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candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
In May, 1945, a train rolled into the station in Werfen, Austria and was seized by American authorities. It has already meandered across central Europe, been seized by the French, and stopped occasionally to unload containers onto trucks. What arrived at Werfen was a 42-car train filled with belongings looted from Hungarian Jews, including jewelry, art, furniture, china, crystal, and cash.
Ayelet Waldman puts a young Jewish officer named Jack Wiseman as the American in charge of guarding and taking inventory of these belongings, the owners of which had mostly perished in Auschwitz. He falls for a Hungarian concentration camp survivor, a relationship made even more affecting by the fact that he is counting the personal belongings of people from her town, perhaps even her family.
Jack leaves his granddaughter a necklace taken from the train, and she wants to return it to a member of the family it was taken from. Natalie’s attempt to do this highlights the problems in finding out what belonged to who—a major US reason for not returning the riches to the families of their original owners. Who was still alive? Where were they?
This is my first go-round with Ayelet Waldman and I enjoyed it from start to finish. She’s a good stylist and the story is fascinating. I suspect that the number of hits on sites for “Hungarian Gold Train” are going to soar after this novel comes out.
Amazing, isn’t it? We can still be shocked by what happened in Europe during those five years of war. Heartwrenching is that the Hungarian Jews almost escaped the Final Solution—they were sent to their deaths barely a year before the Nazis surrendered.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Ayelet Waldman puts a young Jewish officer named Jack Wiseman as the American in charge of guarding and taking inventory of these belongings, the owners of which had mostly perished in Auschwitz. He falls for a Hungarian concentration camp survivor, a relationship made even more affecting by the fact that he is counting the personal belongings of people from her town, perhaps even her family.
Jack leaves his granddaughter a necklace taken from the train, and she wants to return it to a member of the family it was taken from. Natalie’s attempt to do this highlights the problems in finding out what belonged to who—a major US reason for not returning the riches to the families of their original owners. Who was still alive? Where were they?
This is my first go-round with Ayelet Waldman and I enjoyed it from start to finish. She’s a good stylist and the story is fascinating. I suspect that the number of hits on sites for “Hungarian Gold Train” are going to soar after this novel comes out.
Amazing, isn’t it? We can still be shocked by what happened in Europe during those five years of war. Heartwrenching is that the Hungarian Jews almost escaped the Final Solution—they were sent to their deaths barely a year before the Nazis surrendered.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
zordrac's review
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
mellabella's review against another edition
3.0
I am starting to like historical fiction. This book was no exception. Three multi generational stories within a story. It told of love and loss. It dealt with The Hungarian Gold Train on which, property of approximately 800,000 Jewish people's belongings were on. I liked Jack and Ilona's story the best by far. The last story was interesting but, by that point my interest was waning. Add to that an anticlimactic ending... I would recommend Love and War. Just be prepared for multiple plot lines and an unsatisfactory ending.
100pagesaday's review against another edition
5.0
An astonishing and surprising story of a special piece of jewelery and the lives it affected throughout it's long journey. After World War II, Lieutenant Jack Wiseman is charged to examine and organize the contents of the Hungarian Gold Train. Filled with the items that made up the lives of Hungary's Jewish population, Jack is left to sift through thousands of dishes, linens, watches, candlesticks and jewelery, hoping that it will find it's way back to the families or any living heirs of the people it once belonged to. Jack meets Ilona, recently released from a concentration camp and is intrigued by her strength and determination. As he attempts to find any of Ilona's belongings among the Gold Train, he comes across a unique peacock locket that originated from Ilona's home town of Nagyvarad. Years later, shortly before his death, Jack charges his granddaughter, Natalie to find an ancestor of the owner of his pilfered locket and return it to them.
I found this novel absolutely engaging, heartfelt and bittersweet. It was difficult for me to get my feelings written down for this one, since they were all over the place. Ayelet Waldman has created a band a characters that are real and with raw emotions and actions that made this story resonate within me. Though told from several different points of view, Jack's character is seen through several different points in his life and his quest to return the items from the Gold Train, no matter how feeble a venture it may seems, never waivers.
" 'You guard so conscientiously that treasure train. And for whom?' For the Jews of Hungary, Jack wished he could reply. But of course by now he feared that was no more than the vaguest and most unlikely of hopes."
Bravely, Love and Treasure not only deals with the thieving from the Gold Train and the poor treatment of those liberated from the concentration camps, but through another set of absorbing characters the women's suffrage movement in Budapest is explored, as well as common medical treatment for women's ailments at the time. Nina and Gizella were awe-inspiring; their story adds richness and even more mystery to the peacock necklace. The necklace as a character itself ties the stories of these distinct characters together and I thoroughly enjoyed the the tale it divulged as I learned it's story. I love learning about history through fiction, and Love and Treasure brought to light parts of the past that have long been swept under the rug.
I found this novel absolutely engaging, heartfelt and bittersweet. It was difficult for me to get my feelings written down for this one, since they were all over the place. Ayelet Waldman has created a band a characters that are real and with raw emotions and actions that made this story resonate within me. Though told from several different points of view, Jack's character is seen through several different points in his life and his quest to return the items from the Gold Train, no matter how feeble a venture it may seems, never waivers.
" 'You guard so conscientiously that treasure train. And for whom?' For the Jews of Hungary, Jack wished he could reply. But of course by now he feared that was no more than the vaguest and most unlikely of hopes."
Bravely, Love and Treasure not only deals with the thieving from the Gold Train and the poor treatment of those liberated from the concentration camps, but through another set of absorbing characters the women's suffrage movement in Budapest is explored, as well as common medical treatment for women's ailments at the time. Nina and Gizella were awe-inspiring; their story adds richness and even more mystery to the peacock necklace. The necklace as a character itself ties the stories of these distinct characters together and I thoroughly enjoyed the the tale it divulged as I learned it's story. I love learning about history through fiction, and Love and Treasure brought to light parts of the past that have long been swept under the rug.
bookherd's review against another edition
3.0
A novel about the Hungarian Gold Train. The parts of the story that were set in the past were deeply engrossing and ultimately heartbreaking, but I thought the parts set in the present were kind of silly.
kathleenww's review against another edition
4.0
I'm wavering between 3.5-4 stars on this one, so I'm rounding up and going with 4. I didn't love it, but there were things about it that I really did love. The book is divided into three distinct stories, unified by a common thread: the Hungarian Gold Train. The Nazis systematically stripped Hungarian Jews of all their worldly (and valuable) possessions before sending them off to concentration camps, and even handed out receipts. Items from this train, and found in the keeping of a particular family, are the reason for the title of this novel.
A beloved granddaughter is given her legacy: a stolen pendant from the Gold Train. Her grandfather, Jack Wiseman, a US lieutenant (and also a Jew) was in charge of the train in Hungary, and he watches as the contents of the train are slowly whittled away by US officers, as furnishings for their commandeered homes. Before he leaves and the whole passel of treasure is gone, he also takes a souvenir that has some sentimental value for him. This pendant, a lovely peacock locket that is considered bad luck in the Hungarian Jewish community, is what he pockets, and takes back with him Stateside.
This is not your average World War II novel. It doesn't have a neat little tie up at the end, but I did love the way it veered off into many different aspects of people's lie, both before and after the war, and how the ripples of what happened effect so many people, both living and dead. I guess my problem with this novel was that the writing dd not dazzle me; a great story and gorgeous writing ensures a 5 star rating from me, but 4 is nothing to sneeze at! I enjoyed hearing an interview with the author, Ayelet Waldman tell about her inspirations for this story. (via the NYT Book review podcast). I was almost done with the book when I heard it, but it was a great little interview, worth searching out.
A beloved granddaughter is given her legacy: a stolen pendant from the Gold Train. Her grandfather, Jack Wiseman, a US lieutenant (and also a Jew) was in charge of the train in Hungary, and he watches as the contents of the train are slowly whittled away by US officers, as furnishings for their commandeered homes. Before he leaves and the whole passel of treasure is gone, he also takes a souvenir that has some sentimental value for him. This pendant, a lovely peacock locket that is considered bad luck in the Hungarian Jewish community, is what he pockets, and takes back with him Stateside.
This is not your average World War II novel. It doesn't have a neat little tie up at the end, but I did love the way it veered off into many different aspects of people's lie, both before and after the war, and how the ripples of what happened effect so many people, both living and dead. I guess my problem with this novel was that the writing dd not dazzle me; a great story and gorgeous writing ensures a 5 star rating from me, but 4 is nothing to sneeze at! I enjoyed hearing an interview with the author, Ayelet Waldman tell about her inspirations for this story. (via the NYT Book review podcast). I was almost done with the book when I heard it, but it was a great little interview, worth searching out.
kymme's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this tale told across decades and continents, with the primary story surrounding a pendant lost to a Hungarian Jewish woman during WWII and the journey it and those it found itself "belonging" to both after and before that seemingly final loss. A love story, or two, a story of unlikely friendship, a story of rebellion gone wrong, a story of psychoanalysis before it settled on clear rules. I've read a lot of Holocaust novels, but never one set largely in Hungary, never one that described the aftermath in terms of displaced persons and hidden former Nazis and American troops, never one that went into the feelings of Jews who escaped for those who survived. This book will keep me thinking for a long time.
cherircohen's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first and second sections of this novel but not the third. I found it painful to get through. I really wanted to love this book - and parts of it I did. But overall, not sure if I would recommend.
manaledi's review against another edition
3.0
This book did historical fiction well, combining the facts with the personalities and emotions to make an engaging story.