Send for Me

By: Lauren Fox

Narrated by: Natasha Soudek

An achingly beautiful work of historical fiction that moves between Germany on the eve of World War II and present-day Wisconsin, unspooling a thread of love, longing, and the powerful bonds of family.

Annelise is a dreamer: imagining her future while working at her parents’ popular bakery in Feldenheim, Germany, anticipating all the delicious possibilities yet to come. There are rumors that anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise, but Annelise and her parents can’t quite believe that it will affect them; they’re hardly religious at all. But as Annelise falls in love, marries, and gives birth to her daughter, the dangers grow closer: a brick thrown through her window; a childhood friend who cuts ties with her; customers refusing to patronize the bakery. Luckily Annelise and her husband are given the chance to leave for America, but they must go without her parents, whose future and safety are uncertain.

Two generations later, in a small Midwestern city, Annelise’s granddaughter, Clare, is a young woman newly in love. But when she stumbles upon a trove of her grandmother’s letters from Germany, she sees the history of her family’s sacrifices in a new light, and suddenly she’s faced with an impossible choice: the past, or her future. A novel of dazzling emotional richness, Send for Me is a major departure for this acclaimed author, an epic and intimate exploration of mothers and daughters, duty and obligation, hope and forgiveness.

©2021 Lauren Fox (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Hard read

It was a hard read be due to transitions between characters. Who was talking etc. i kept thinking the story was going to end with bigger climax or wrap up but didn’t get it. And the last part of the book about how the author found the letters and used them in the book was the best part but the book itself did not deliver. I’m not sure how to fix it or even describe how i think it should have gone. But I was disappointed.

Heartfelt writing and expressive narration

I loved everything about this book as well as Lauren Fox's past novels. A master wordsmith she draws you in and you just can't stop listening. I really enjoyed the narrator, as well. Expressive with a soft voice, she brought this sad tale to life. You will totally enjoy this work of art.

Hardcopy May have been better for this book

The narrator seemed to have an annoyed tone throughout the book which detracted from the storyline and characters. The story jumped around from 1930’s Germany to roughly 1998/2000 Milwaukee and at times it was hard to figure out who was who based on the narrators same annoyed tone. This may be one instance where reading the hardcopy may have been better the the audio version.

Utterly exquisite. Breathtaking. Beautiful.

This book shook me to the core. It’s like a poem and a song and a dance woven together using pure soul and heart. The story is gorgeous, and the narration took it to a whole other level of gorgeous, as well. Perfect example of an extraordinary book being made other-dimensional through acting/narration. Thank you to both the author and narrator. You mended something in me that I didn’t even know was broken.

Not Best

Narrators voice is hard to listen to. Story was disjointed and hard to follow.