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There are currently 18 member reviews
for Jacob's Oath
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Beth B. (New Wilmington, PA)
Return, revenge, survival, good and evil
Positives: well-researched, lusciously constructed sentences sprinkled throughout, recommended for book clubs who like to chew on existence issues such as those listed in the title of this review.
I really wanted to like this book to the end, but found myself wishing there were fewer details ---location and street names that impeded the flow of the story's progression.
"Everyone goes home. One day. Where else would you go when the war ends? When the camps shut down. You'll come home. And I'll find you." Martin Fletcher's beautiful words at the very beginning beckoned to me but the interest was not sustained.
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Zonetta G. (Winter Springs, FL)
Jacob's Oath
Having read more than one book about the Holocaust, there are always similarities. What sets this book apart is the love story amid the ruins and destruction and more importantly the effort it took the main characters to maintain and/or regain their humanity amid all the inhumanity. I thought the characters were well developed and mostly--but not completely believable. Overall it was a good read.
This book would probably generate an interesting discussion in a book club, and I would recommend it for a book club selection.
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Virginia M. (San Antonio, TX)
Going Home
This book is another Holocaust story but with a different twist. Instead of being focused on the horrible conditions Jacob Klein endured within a concentration camp or on the sub-human conditions faced by Sarah Kaufman who survived by hiding out for years fleeing from one safe house to another, this story is about these two Jews in the days immediately following the victories of the Allied armies. I believe the difficulties involved in trying to survive as free people who have lost everything have been pretty much overlooked in novels about this era. So the concept was intriguing for someone who loves historical fiction. The cover of the book announced that the author is a master storyteller, but I am sorry to report that it somehow seemed to lack true emotion and did not measure up to what I was anticipating.
I am not sure what it was lacking. In some ways, it seemed to be as if the author stands back and reports the facts without being invested in the characters being described. I never lost the feeling I was reading about these people rather than being enveloped and living in their shoes.
I would not recommend the book.
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Laurie B. (Jacksonville, FL)
wanted to like it more
This book mostly held my interest and was reasonably well written. The plight of concentration camp victims during WWII and Jews in Germany is a worthy subject--we should never forget. That said, the plot felt a little contrived to me and just a little "soap opera-ish". I think there are better novels on the subject
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