Hello friends! I hope that the first half of May has treated you well and it’s looking like a good month for you. I have been enjoying some amazing books and it has been hard to pull myself away from reading and write about them. I promise to bring them all to your attention in the coming weeks but first, let’s talk about books that you loved so much that you never wanted them to end. Today’s book Tears of Amber by Sofía Segovia (translated by Simon Bruni) is one such book for me. Last year I buddy-read The Murmur of Bees and loved it and that is why I picked up this book. As part of the blog tour organized by Over The River PR, I did not want to miss the opportunity to rave about this book, even though I have not yet finished it. Take a look at the synopsis and content notes first and then I’ll share my thoughts.
From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the bonds of love and courage.
With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.
But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish laborer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.
Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.
Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they’ll become pawns caught between two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.
Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that draws them together against insurmountable odds.
Content Notes include depiction of atrocities due to war like slavery, prisoner of war, addiction, depression, animal death, human death, hunger.
Thoughts on Tears of Amber
Once or twice every year, I find a story that I want to live in forever. Last year it was the mesmerizing world of Weep in Strange the Dreamer. This year, I have Tears of Amber. It is amazing to me how different these two books are and yet they invoke the same strong feelings in me. With Simon Bruni’s translation, Sofía Segovia creates such timeless characters and haunting storytelling that I feel transported to the times that are depicted by the book.
On New Perspectives
I have shared about historical fiction books diligently on the blog and this one is one of my favorites. There are so many different aspects of history and I find the more historical fiction I read, more aspects I become aware of.
Tears of Amber is about two farmer families in Germany during the Second World War – the Hahlbrock and Schipper. I have never read their side of the story before though The Book Thief does touch on the thoughts of the common people in Germany during war times. In the first half of the book, our main characters Isle and Arno are young kids. They don’t quite understand how much life has changed with the wars and how the war has affected their families. Like in The Murmur of Bees, Sofía Segovia does not limit the world view to just the two of them. I met other important characters like Hartwig and Wanda, Isle’s parents, Janusz, a Polish Zivilarbeiter working at their farm, and Karl and Ethel, Arno’s parents. While the Hahlbrocks take most of the centre stage, the Schipper family’s connection to Poland and Karl’s initial faith in Hitler and his mission are quite interesting to read about.
I was hooked from the first chapter! The writing just drew me right in and learning about Isle as a baby and how her birth aligned with bigger events in Germany had a premonition kind of feel. I loved learning about how she internalized her fear of dogs and geese and this is something that every reader would be able to relate to – how as kids something happened and we are a certain way because of it but we have no memories of what that was. Sofía offers foresight into the events that will happen years from now while at the same time, exposing how we grow and the things we can’t put into words.
I love Janusz as a character and his relationship with Isle is that of a big brother. He is a storyteller and she hangs on his every word. He is Polish and she does not understand the significance of that in the political spheres. Janusz’s backstory is heartbreaking and his interactions with the other Polish Zivlarbeiters at the Hahlbrocks farm point to how narrow minded we can be. We cannot imagine the hardships that someone would have gone through to appreciate being a prisoner and having food and a roof above his head.
On Familial Bonds and Role Models
Since Tears of Amber is about Isle and Arno, familial bonds and how they evolve is an integral part of the telling. Isle’s love for her father and Arno’s carefulness around his mother are key aspects of their personalities. Even though in their pre-teens, the kids are too young to understand the effects of war, they are able to see what it does to their parents, whether it is physical distance when one of them is drafted, or mental distance when the parents are trying to figure out how to keep the kids safe. Isle’s simplistic view of war being for idiots evolves as she sees the hardships it causes.
As much as Wanda Hahlbrock wants to be a loyal Nazi party member she does not believe in taking every word as the truth. She might not be able to voice her concerns openly to her husband and kids, in fear of someone overhearing them and reporting them, she continues to be a good role model for Isle and her siblings, being kind to the Polish and Jewish household staff and considering their needs. Not liking the curriculum and lies that are being taught at school, she decides to homeschool all the younger kids.
It was impossible to contradict them. Impossible to close the book and ignore the homework that had to be handed in the next day, with good handwriting and spelling. It was impossible to go to the teacher and demand: Fräulein, stop teaching my daughter this garbage.
Tears of Amber
Through Karl Schipper and his experiences at the warfront, the writing beautifully portrays pain and helplessness. There is something about being empty and having no energy to even meet social obligations. There is something about being haunted by the war and knowing that it will never leave him alone again. I am sure Arno will learn a lot from seeing his father in the post-war years.
I can’t say this enough: I love this story so much! I have found so many amazing quotes and annotated so much of it already that it becomes a dearer book to me every time I add a new sticky note. I really appreciate the connection to land that Sofía Segovia portrays in her books, through bees, farms, wheat, and so much more! Simon Bruni brings her vision to life with his translation and I am thrilled to have this beautiful story accessible to me. Based on all I have read so far, my reading experience is already at its peak and I don’t think it will come down. A quick note if you are not familiar with my reading experience graphic, the rating for Storytelling differs from other criteria: in Tears of Amber, multiple perspective add balance to the story and that is why the flower in the middle of the line. It’s a good thing. 🙂
** Tears of Amber is available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and recommend it to them if they don’t have it already. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
(available on Kindle Unlimited)
What’s a book you loved so much you did not want it to end?
I’ll be back in a week with the second half of this review! While I can’t wait to see how this ends, I am savouring every word so bear with me while I go make more notes. 🙂 I’ll share some of my abundant quotes and highlights then!
Many thanks to Over the River PR and the publisher for the gifted copy of the book for an honest review.
Cover image: Photo by Deanna Lewis on Unsplash
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