Those Who Save Us

Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmführer of Buchenwald. 'Blum's novel has the readability of a saga but the weight of something more' Metro For fifty years Anna has refused to talk about her life as a civilian in World War II Germany. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when Anna fell for an Allied solider and they began their new life in America. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing her with her mother and a Nazi officer. Trudy begins a quest that will reveal Anna's cruel war. And the shame that kept a mother from sharing her heartbreak. 'Gripping and shocking, and packs a powerful emotional punch' Daily Mail 'Jenna Blum's seductive, subtle style kept me hooked' Sunday Telegraph 'A powerful evocation of terrible events, moving and persuasive.' Penelope Lively 'A penetrating novel which touches the heart and questions the conscience' Independent on Sunday Cover photo © Getty Images Cover design by Tim Byrne 'Impossible' Max breathes. 'This is impossible.' Anna bends to put her lips to his ear 'No, it's not' she whispers. 'I know where to hide you. I have the perfect place.' For fifty years Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmführer of Buchenwald. Driven by guilt about her supposed Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the dramatic and heartbreaking truth about her mother's life.