Kate’s 2¢: “The World That We Knew” by Alice Hoffman

“The World That We Knew” by Alice Hoffman

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

Hoffman weaves the lives of two brothers, two young girls, and a mother’s love into the historical facts of Nazi Germany and France. Blended in is a plethora of Jewish lore and mysticism to make a ‘can’t put down’ book.

The ending reminds me of “The Velveteen Rabbit” By Margery Williams (english).

From Encyclopaedia Britannica

Alice Hoffman

AMERICAN AUTHOR

Alice Hoffman, (born March 16, 1952, New York City, New York, U.S.), American novelist whose books about women in search of their identities mix realism and the supernatural.

Hoffman was educated at Adelphi University (B.A., 1973) and Stanford University (M.A., 1975) and began her professional writing career by contributing short stories to magazines. Her first novel, Property Of (1977), which traces the one-year relationship of a suburban girl and a gang leader, is both gritty and romantic. Many of Hoffman’s other novels also deal with complex relationships, such as Angel Landing (1980), a love story set near a nuclear power plant on Long Island, New York; White Horses (1982), which concerns a girl’s struggle to rid herself of incestuous feelings for her elder brother; and Illumination Night (1987), the story of a young couple whose marriage is challenged by a teenage girl. In At Risk (1988) a young girl with AIDS sparks varied reactions from her family and community. Seventh Heaven (1990) concerns an unconventional divorcée in a Long Island suburb in 1959–60, and Turtle Moon (1992) contemplates the status of single mothers. Practical Magic (1995; film 1998) is about two sisters trying to leave behind their family’s tradition of witchcraft, while Here on Earth (1997) depicts a woman unexpectedly coming to terms with her past.

Hoffman continued her prolific career into the 21st century with The River King (2000; film 2004), about the mystery surrounding a small Massachusetts town after a student drowns in the local river. Blackbird House (2004) describes the many generations of families who have lived in the same Cape Cod farmhouse, and The Ice Queen (2005) details how a woman’s life changes for the better after she is struck by lightning. The Third Angel, which weaves together the stories of three women all hopelessly in love with the wrong men, was published in 2008. In The Dovekeepers (2011; TV miniseries 2015), Hoffman imagined the 1st-century Roman siege of the mountaintop fortress of Masada—where some 1,000 Jews had retreated after the fall of Jerusalem—from the perspectives of four women.

In 2014 Hoffman published The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a tale centring on an early 20th-century New York City boardwalk curiosity show. The Marriage of Opposites (2015) imagines the life of painter Camille Pissarro’s mother, a Creole Jew living on the island of St. Thomas who, following the death of her first husband, scandalizes her community by marrying his nephew. The Rules of Magic (2017) is a prequel to Practical Magic. Hoffman’s later books included The World That We Knew (2019), which is set during World War II.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The world that we knew DB97106

Hoffman, Alice. Reading time: 10 hours, 9 minutes.

Read by Judith Light.

Historical Fiction

Berlin, 1941. Hanni Kohn knows the time has come to send her twelve-year-old daughter, Lea, away to save her from the Nazis. The rabbi’s daughter, Ettie, provides hope in the form of a golem, Ava, to protect Lea as she makes her way in the world. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

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