House on Endless Waters: A Novel

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Emuna Elon, and Washington Square Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read 'House of Endless Waters' of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This is an excellent mystery and a moving family saga, but in the ARC edition, the transitions between 1940s wartime and the 21 century are not always cleanly accomplished. I am hopeful that in the finished version of this novel that is better addressed. I am excited to see more novels from the World War II-era that take place in the lesser-known areas of combat - this is perhaps the third I have encountered in the last couple of years that involve the Netherlands, though that country too was inhaled by the Germans fairly early on in that war. Portions of Amsterdam are built on deep pilings over running water, which is what the title refers to, though perhaps only partially. This was a very explosive time in all of Europe and Jews were nowhere immune to the annihilation perpetrated by the German military on races and religions they considered impure. The House on Endless Waters follows two distinct time frames - during the war, we see through the Jewish eyes of Sonia, a nurse and now a full-time mother. Sonia is married to Dr. Edouard Blum - Eddy, who is a medical doctor. They have two children, Hetty is about 4, and Leo is a toddler when Eddie is called up to report to Germany. Despite Sonia's pleas that he simply disappears, Eddy goes when he is called, leaving his little family in Amsterdam, a community where the remaining rights of the Jewish community are curtailed more tightly every day. Sonia must decide how best to protect her children - and daily it becomes more evident that they must be sent through the underground to be raised as one of their own by Christian families. The decision now is how long she can postpone giving her children away. And the fine line between 'achievement' and 'too late' is a very thin one. In more modern times we are along for the ride with respected Isreali author Yoel Blum and his wife, Bat-Ami. Yoel and Bat-Ami are the parents of three adult daughters, a tightly knit family in this modern world. The last promise Yoel made to his recently deceased mother was to never return to his birthplace, to not try to unravel the past of their family. Yoel's publisher is trying to talk him into adding Amsterdam to his European book circuit. It is, both publisher and Bat-Ami remind him, very important that he include Amsterdam, as the latest novel was also published in Holland. And Bat-Ami will gladly accompany him. And that lecture, that book signing went very well. The problem is while there Yoel feels compelled to write about Holland. To research his family's actions and reactions during the war. A week after returning to Isreal with Bat-Ami, Yoel sets off again alone, intent on doing background for his Holland novel. There are so many things he knows he needs to know about Amsterdam and the life there during WWII - and the many things that he doesn't know that he needs to know about this place, those days, begins to color his world.