They Went Left

By: Monica Hesse

Narrated by: Caitlin Davies

A tour de force historical mystery from Monica Hesse, the bestselling and award-winning author of Girl in the Blue Coat. Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal, her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else—her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja—they went left.

Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her—or help her rebuild her world.

Critic reviews

"Hesse writes with tenderness and insight about the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive and the ways we cobble together family with whatever we have. When the plot twists come, they are gut punches--some devastating, others offering hope... Crucial."—New York Times Book Review

"beautifully tragic...an incredibly impressive novel about a timeframe and group of people that history often forgets. Their stories will stay with me forever."—--Hypable

* "A heartbreaking and heartwarming story of survival, loss, and renewal. Sure to please a variety of readers; those interested in historical fiction, romance, and mystery will not be able to put this book down."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "Hesse again proves to be a master of verisimilitude, bringing the realities of existence in the immediate postwar period to visceral life through painstaking detail. Her beautifully realized, highly empathetic characters come to life, too, in the pages of this superbly crafted novel...like real life, there is heartbreaking sadness here but also hope that life, finally, will be whole and fine, A to Z."—Booklist, starred review

* "Hesse's meticulous research is evident on every page but never distracts from her propulsive plot. Combining history, romance and mystery, They Went Left is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story of what it takes to survive after trauma."—BookPage, starred review

* "Compelling."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Featuring factual locations and covering a period of time not often focused on, this is an excellent book to add to a Holocaust collection. ...This book would be valuable for all high schools and should be considered a must-purchase."

—School Library Connection, starred review

"A heartbreaking, gorgeously written story...The ending left me breathless and awed by its expression of enduring love."—Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys

"Zofia's harrowing journey to find Abek and the fellow survivors she meets along the way will stay with the reader--particularly the echoes of the present evoked in a narrative of the past."—Refinery29

Amazing

This story is remarkable. It’s one that will stick with me for a long time. The narrator is flawless. It is a beautifully told, haunting story that will make you cry. I loved it. The story offers a unique perspective of the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Survivors of the Holocaust

This is a heart wrenching story about a young Jewish woman who was not sent to the “showers”, but was used to make uniforms for the German Army because her family had worked in the garment industry. When the prisoners were liberated she went back “ home” in Poland, to try to find her younger brother.
She then went to Germany to search for him. This is the story of her search and coming to grips with her PTSD, nightmares, and delusions.

I’m feeling empty

This book ripped out my heart, put it back in to rip it out again. Chills, the ending gave me CHILLS!

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

Listening to this story would be the only way to read this one. The narrator was perfect and the music interludes were heart wrenching yet spellbinding. I was not prepared for the direction the story went in the end, however it was important to end that way and right. Monica Hesse did incredible research and the story reflects the time she spent telling the story of survivors.

Though not a top ten, still worth reading

This was a good book but maybe better read than narrated. The narrator’s cadence was always clipped/choppy. So for almost the entire book she sounded ANGRY. Even when I don’t think the author was trying to convey that emotion.