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A review by rosecarlyle
The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner
5.0
Spoiler-free review
Susan Meissner has a way of capturing characters from history that makes them feel so real. The Last Year of the War follows Elise Sontag, a German-American woman, from her teenage years during World War II to the present day, when she is an elderly woman with Alzheimer's. Her friendship with a Japanese-American girl, Mariko Inoue, is captured beautifully, but this is only one aspect of the story. By the time I finished, I felt I had lived Elise's whole life, and the journey took me into parts of history that are seldom talked about.
Susan Meissner writes unpredictable plots that don't fit into neat categories, which I love. I didn't know what was going to happen to Elise next. On the whole, despite the awfulness of WWII (which is not glossed over) this novel is life-affirming and hopeful. All the stars.
Susan Meissner has a way of capturing characters from history that makes them feel so real. The Last Year of the War follows Elise Sontag, a German-American woman, from her teenage years during World War II to the present day, when she is an elderly woman with Alzheimer's. Her friendship with a Japanese-American girl, Mariko Inoue, is captured beautifully, but this is only one aspect of the story. By the time I finished, I felt I had lived Elise's whole life, and the journey took me into parts of history that are seldom talked about.
Susan Meissner writes unpredictable plots that don't fit into neat categories, which I love. I didn't know what was going to happen to Elise next. On the whole, despite the awfulness of WWII (which is not glossed over) this novel is life-affirming and hopeful. All the stars.