Book 10 (2015) Fugitive Pieces***** by Anne Michaels

This was an e-book read on the road in the Balkans.  A very appropriate reinforcement of the echoes of WW2 and the Holocaust I found everywhere.

This is a story, set in Poland, Greece, and Canada, is about Jacob Beer, a child who survived and was saved by a Greek geologist, and the impact of being a survivor on them, their friends, wives, and their descendants to the present time.

Michaels is a poetic writer meaning you never quite know what is going on and you hope it all comes together by the end.  I am not a fan of this technique but the writing is heart-stopping and the story unforgettable.  

Book 7 (2015) Half Broke Horses: a True-life Novel *** by Jeannette Walls

Another stunning book by Jeannette Walls who also wrote The Glass Castle.   Both are must reads.

This one is about her grandmother, a very strong and unusual woman, written in the first person by Walls.  Her style as again very rigorous and powerful, suitable for the horrific stories of grit and determination.   

One of my personal takes was the contrast of poverty and hardship and deprivation with the comparative luxuries they had, compared to my own upbringing. I had to fight the feeling of "this doesn't ring true", making me mistrust my opinion that my experience was not typical or my memory defective.   For example, having horses was a rare luxury in my upbringing.