Type of read: Weekend Read

What made me pick it up: I found 'Daughters of the Occupation' in a Savannah, GA bookshop and was immediately interested. I've always enjoyed books based on true events, and more so if there's an entire section of the book dedicated to the author's research and study of the content.

Overall rating: 'Daughters of the Occupation' is a brilliant and realistic look at events in World War II Latvia and how those events impacted and carried on to the next generation. The story of Miriam and Sarah is beautiful and tragic, full of people quite literally just trying to do their best to survive and make the world a better place for their children and children's children. While the book is fiction based on true events, you can't help but feel utter disgust and gut-wrenching sadness within the pages. As a United States citizen reading this in January 2025, it was a blatant reminder of how much we have not grown as humans.

Reader's Note: 'Daughters of the Occupation' is a challenging read. Not from the construction standpoint but from the content standpoint. It's descriptive and raw, and there are definitely parts that some may find disturbing or triggering. This book includes themes of rape, death - adult and child, genocide, murder, war, violence, mass shootings, torture, religious bigotry, and antisemitism.