The Living and the Lost takes place right after the end of WW2 in Berlin. The main character, Millie, requested to be posted there in order to work in the denazification department, interviewing Germans to determine whether they were just following the rules set by Nazis, or actively participating in them. Millie’s younger brother David is also posted in Berlin, and both of them are there for the same reason: to find the truth, to forgive, and to maybe find some way of getting revenge. Millie and David were born in Germany, and not long before the beginning of the war their father managed to procure exit visas for the 5 members in their family, but for some reason only Millie and David were able to make it to the US safely, the other three left behind to face the building wrath of the Nazis.

I couldn’t put this book down. I really enjoyed how the author didn’t reveal the whole background upfront, the reader learns more and more as the story goes on. I found each of the main characters well developed and endearing, especially Millie. Millie lives with so much turmoil, so many mixed emotions, that it is impossible to not feel for her. Her obsession with frauleins was a bit much for me, but I really appreciated how Ellen Feldman made Millie into someone who the reader really gets. 

I thought the setting of the novel was interesting: a country split into pieces, paying for the terrible, horrific crimes it committed against millions, looking for a way to make it into the future. There are the displaced people struggling to survive in a country that wanted them dead, and US soldiers stationed there making the most of it in any way they can, and the German people who may or may not have been Nazis. Nothing is ever black or white and I think the author did a good job portraying that.

If you enjoy historical fiction based in the 1940’s with a little bit of romance thrown in then this will be right up your street! Millie is definitely not your typical 1940’s romance heroine and I really really appreciated that. It gives the novel so much more depth.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.