Advance Praise for Those Who Are Saved
“With lustrous prose and tight pacing, Alexis Landau sets into motion the smooth machinery of a gripping novel. Against the backdrop of World War II and the Holocaust, Those Who Are Saved binds the reader into a story of maternal love, erotic desire, and sweeping romance. I was carried away from beginning to end.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Sympathizer
“A profound and engaging story—Landau writes of the endurance of parental love in the face of Nazi occupation and terror, of finding those who were lost. I loved it.” —Paulette Jiles, author of National Book Award finalist News of the World
“With poetic, mesmerizing prose, Alexis Landau creates a heartrending story of the unbreakable bond of maternal love. Those Who Are Saved brings to life a moment in history when all that is familiar disappears and every choice is potentially tragic. This gripping and compassionate novel continues to haunt me.” —Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of And After the Fire, recipient of the National Jewish Book Award
“Such subtle and skilful writing, so evocative of the Second World War and the period following. We are drawn deep into the story of a mother who, escaping to America, had no choice but to leave her daughter behind in the heart of Nazi-occupied France. Absolutely haunting.” —Frances Liardet, New York Times bestselling author of We Must Be Brave
“Powerful…Landau brilliantly explores the blurred lines between good and evil as the characters wrestle with their own dire decisions and the choices of those they love. Once this magnetic book takes hold, it doesn’t let go.” –Publishers Weekly, starred
“Hard-hitting. . . Landau confidently illuminates her settings and her characters’ psyches, [and] Vera’s unwavering resolve to find Lucie amid the chaos of postwar France feels arrestingly real.” –Booklist
“[Landau] thoughtfully juxtaposes moments of daily life with the broader scale of war. . . Readers looking for a strong foundation of historical fact blended into a fictional story, with the research sources to back it up, will find that mix right here.” –Library Journal
“This book plumbs the role privilege plays in fate.” —Kirkus
“Those Who Are Saved is a stunning tale of indestructible love, of sacrifice and faith, and of one woman’s fierce determination to find her lost daughter in an unrecognizable, war-ravaged France. Imbued with vivid, lush imagery and written with enormous sensitivity and heart, this gem of a novel has everything that I love in historical fiction, and it is one of the best I’ve read this year. I treasured every page.” —Roxanne Veletzos, bestselling author of The Girl They Left Behind
“Those Who Are Saved is an achingly beautiful epoch about love’s endurance. I was hooked from the start by the chance meeting of Sasha and Vera who are driven by creative energies to remake their fractured worlds. This tense journey encompasses exile from Eastern to Western Europe, then across the ocean to the glittering promise of Hollywood, only to be haunted by whispers of what was left behind. Alexis Landau is an amazing storyteller and her novel will whisper to you long after you finish.” —Devin Murphy, author of The Boat Runner
“Those Who Are Saved is a gorgeously written, emotional novel about the unshakable bonds of mothers and daughters, even in the darkest times. Spanning characters and continents during WWII, Alexis Landau’s vividly drawn book swept me up into the lives of Vera, Sasha, and Lucie. An unforgettable story of heartbreak, but ultimately of hope, resilience, and love – I could not put this book down!” —Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of In Another Time and Half Life
