World War II historical fiction mixed with magical realism

Although I haven’t read The Marriage of Opposites or The Rules of Magic (yet!), I absolutely adored The Dovekeepers, so I was excited to dive into Alice Hoffman’s newest novel, historical fiction set during World War II. After her daughter is almost raped, Hanni Kohn decides that she must send her daughter Lea away from Germany. Because she must stay to protect her mother, Hanni decides to create a mystical Jewish creature, a golem, whose purpose in life will be to protect Ettie. With the help of Ettie, a rabbi’s daughter, they bring to life Ava, and Ava, Lea and Ettie’s path converge in France, which is not quite the safe haven for Jews they were hoping for.

Hoffman does an excellent job of mixing in the fantastical element of Ava into reality, making the jump toward magical realism feel more believable, though still not quite palatable for my taste. From the story, you can tell Hoffman thoroughly researched the Jewish travails in France. Unfortunately, I felt that her extensive research lead to some of the backgrounds of the side characters being covered too extensively so that the author could squeeze in some interesting historical facts.

Though not nearly as good as The Dovekeepers, The World That We Knew will get plenty of outstanding reviews from some who love Alice Hoffman’s gorgeous writing, but only three stars from people like me who struggle with magical realism.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.