9/50: Day After Night by Anita Diamant

****Happy 400th post to my blog today!!****

Day After Night by Anita Diamant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The women in Day After Night are women I can appreciate and look up to. They had so much strength and courage it was amazing. Reading a story about women who fought for their lives, keep secrets of their past and still manage to find happiness is rewarding.

The story picks up just after WWII and the Jewish people are trying to find solace in Israel. We meet Tedi, Leonie, Zorah and Shayndel at Atlit where they are illegal immigrants. They all have a different story of how they survived the war and how they arrived in Atlit. They all have a secret to their story and want nothing more than to move on and not think about the past. Anita Diamant weaves the stories of these 4 women together with such elegance it's hard not to love it and care about them all.

No one ever talks about what happened after the war. I have no idea how accurate the story is, but I would like to think that maybe this is what happened to those that survived and made it to Israel. It was awful they were made to stay in yet another prison after some of the 'prisoners' being just recently in concentration camps. On the other hand, it was hard not to feel happy for them that they had a place to sleep, food to eat, running water and medical care.

I can't say enough about the 4 women in this book. They were so strong and their friendship made me realize that no matter what friends like that will remain friends always. The end of the book made me cry with happy tears. It was a good ending and suited the book perfectly.

I listened to this book on audio and the narrator was fabulous. She kept me engaged, had a wonderful accent and made me believe she was the characters. I had a hard time getting out of my vehicle a few times, which is the sign of a great book.

I have to say that I also appreciate the fact that Diamant used an actual place. What she described in her book of Atlit and what I found online for the now historical site makes it that much more real. I love when authors do this.

WBC 2011: 15 Points, Book that has been on my to-read shelf the longest

This book took me to Israel on my Book Journey 2011

View all my reviews