Inspired by true events in World War II Latvia, an emotionally charged novel of sacrifice, trauma, resilience, and survival, as witnessed by three generations of women.

Sarah's estranged grandmother, Miriam, appears at her mother's funeral and speaks in Hebrew over the casket. Her grandmother was Jewish? Why had her mother and grandmother fallen out? What other secrets did her family hold? Sarah decides to overcome her grandmother's reluctance and learn her family's history. Her investigation leads her to Riga, Latvia in search of a relative who had been left behind when her mother and grandmother fled to America after the war.

Miriam's and Sarah's stories are told in alternating chapters, the former starting in Riga in 1940 and the latter in Chicago in 1975. Loosely based on experiences that members of the author's family had during the war, the novel includes the infamous Rumbula Forest massacre, the successive occupations by the Soviets and Nazis, and life during the 1970s in communist Riga. Fast-paced, it's a quick read, and I enjoyed the afterward by the author which includes a few photos.

To simplify the narrative, the main character experiences almost every aspect of the Latvian Holocaust personally. At times this felt a bit contrived, although taken individually the events are accurate. Overall it was an interesting introduction to the Latvian Holocaust, and the bibliography provides readers an opportunity to learn more. ( )

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Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is a historical fiction story, set during World War II in Latvia. Ms. Sanders is a published author and journalist, who writes books inspired by her family’s history.

Miriam Talan has lived through Soviet and Nazi occupations. She has somehow survived her life in Riga, Latvia despite being on death marches, as well as a massacre. Miriam, however, paid a heavy price losing all her family, except her daughter but never knowing what happened to her young son.

Decades later, Sarah Byrne, Miriam’s granddaughter, accidentally discovers she might have an uncle. After the funeral for her mother, Sarah sets out on a journey to find him.

One of the reasons this book spoke to me, is because my grandmother managed to escape from Latvia during World War II. Her mother, however, was not as lucky and was murdered by the Nazis as they were retreating.

Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is an engaging, well-researched book. Much of the book is very descriptive and haunting, however, the author tried to stay away from it being a tear-jerker.
Good choice.

The story, set in two timelines is not difficult to follow, and the author does a good job flipping back and forth between them. The courage, survival instinct, and chutzpah seem to have been passed on from grandmother to granddaughter.

I did, however, found the dual timeline a bit strange. The author spent a lot of time with Sarah, writing chapters on events that could have been a few paragraphs since they really had very little to do with the quest of either woman. There was also very little correlation between the two, from a narrative perspective. For example, Sarah learns something about her grandmother, and when we switch viewpoints, we don’t read about that event, but something totally different. In books I’ve read with a similar concept, that was usually the way it was done.

My other observation, not a complaint by any means, is the names. Names are important in the Jewish religion, and while the protagonist’s names are appropriately enough from the book of Exodus (Sarah and Miriam), the other family members are from the book of Esther.
I just found it interesting and am still trying to figure out the significance, if it even exists. Or, most likely, I’m overthinking it.

While it took me a while to get into Sarah’s story, I did find the book both interesting and informative. The research the author did shines, and I’ve learned several things about Latvia, the region, the way Latvian Jews viewed the Soviets, and a bit of history as well. ( )

This World War II story takes place in Latvia and it's the first book I've read about the effects of the war in this country. Miriam, and her husband Max have one child, Ilana. Max is a businessman and the family lives well. In 1940, they added a second child to their family, their son Max. On the day that Max is born, the Russians invaded Latvia. The family is Jewish so the Russians confiscated the family house and bank accounts and they are forced to live in a small apartment. The lack of food and the fear of the brutal Russian soldiers makes Miriam think "Miriam yearned for the day another country's Army would intervene and overpower the barbaric Soviets." She realized soon after the Germans invaded, that they were even worse than the Russians. They killed Max and planned to send the rest of the family to the Jewish ghetto. Miriam begs a non-Jewish friend to take the two children so that they have a chance to survive.

The second time line of the story is in Chicago in 1975. Sarah's mother, Ilana, has just died and Sarah and her father are struggling with the loss. Ilana and her mother, Miriam are estranged and Sarah was surprised to see her at the funeral after so many years. After seeing her, Sarah decides to get to know her better to find out more about her mother's life. Miriam is a stubborn and unfriendly woman and doesn't want to see Sarah but finally her attitude begins to soften. When Miriam is in the hospital, she finally begs Sarah to go back to Latvia and find the son (Max) that she left there after the war. So Sarah takes a trip to Latvia, which is under Russian control again and runs into a lot of danger trying to find her uncle. Will she be able to return to Chicago and give her grandmother information about Max or is the Russian regime so restrictive that she can't find out any information?

This book was full of terror and fear. First in Latvia during the war and seeing how they Germans treated the Latvian Jews - It's no doubt that people who survived didn't want to talk about those times and relive the pain. Sarah was really tenacious in her quest to find out the family secrets. Her trip to Latvia was also scary. She was helped by a Russian professor who was on the tour with her, but when they snuck away from the tour group several times, they were in constant danger.

This is a heartbreaking story about emotions passed down through the family. All three of the women - Miriam, Ilana and Sarah were brave and tenacious during their hardships. It's a book about man's inhumanity to other men but at the end of the day, it's a book about family, love and hope for the future. Even though I read a lot of WWII fiction, this one really affected me and I won't soon forget the characters and their descriptions of life in Latvia both during and after the war. Be sure to read the Author's Notes at the end of the story. Even though the characters are fiction, the author based many of the characters on real people, including some of her family members. She has also included pictures of the ghettos and the forced March that killed so many people. I also spent a lot of time after finishing the novel to goggle the war in Latvia and to learn more about the war. I always love reading a book that teaches me while I'm enjoying reading it. ( )

Once I turned the cover on this read, I was not going to put it down, and the pages flew. Yes, we know the story, but the author does a wonderful job of putting faces on these people that were condemned for their religion.
This is Miriam’s story, and we follow her from Latvia to Chicago, and then her Granddaughter Sarah back to Latvia.
We are gifted a time split, from the 1930’s in Latvia with first Russian occupation and then German. You, will find some of this hard to read, and yes, what happened is true. Miriam is a strong woman and her will to survive is strong, and she does the ultimate for her children.
The story does flip back to 1976 and being reunited with Miriam and her Granddaughter Sarah who takes on a journey to Communist Latvia in search of an unknown Uncle.
This read was so good, and yet, so sad, how people can have so little regard for human life, but through the words of the author we put faces on these people and quickly care about them.
Be sure to read the author’s note, we find out how Miriam gets to Chicago and other facts! Thank You!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harper Perennial, and was not required to give a positive review. ( )