When I began reading this book I saw a bit of the Rachael and Leah story of the Old Testament. You know the one. The father wanted the oldest daughter to marry first but the young man was in love with the youngest. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Lies and gossip are never a good idea and when used to make a wrong right can cascade into a series of events that change lives forever

This story is a microcosm of what it must have been like in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The author uses very interesting characters to portray the terror of the time. Hiding in stairwells… Always hungry and scared… Physical and mental harm and stress… Work camps… Death camps… Survival was hardly worth it. Reality comes in bits and pieces but it does come. The Jewish people were treated horribly by not only the Nazis but essentially by the whole world.

Finally, our protagonist is able to ‘escape’ from it all. The war is over and she is moved to America. The challenges of this move bring some relief from the deep fear. But, there is more to the story. New challenges, new relationships, and many decisions.

This quote from the book really says it all. It is referring to the people in the concentration camps is incredibly descriptive of the people interred there. “…all of them were taken away over time, like rocks carried off the beach by a relentless tide.”

To discover what the title, Where Butterflies Go, has to do with it you’ll have to read this excellent book.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie