Part detective story, part family history, part quest to understand the enormity of the Holocaust, Daniel Mendelsohn’s brilliant The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million finds a unique way to show us the fate of one family. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series, mentioned The Lost in a New York Times interview. I had a copy of The Lost, but somehow this book got lost in the various stacks of books around my house. After a lengthy search, I unearthed The Lost and plunged right in. At first, Mendelsohn’s method of investigation–detailed and precise–takes some getting used to. But once I figured out Mendelsohn’s approach, the pages flew by. Taking this micro approach to the Holocaust, showing what happened to just one family amid the millions, makes understanding clearer. I highly recommend The Lost and I want to thank Lee Child for his recommendation.
I missed Child’s comment but this does sound interesting.
When my mother’s family had a big family reunion about 20 years ago in New Jersey one of the highlights for me was a huge family tree that one of her cousins compiled. Fortunately, most of the family had left Europe before the Holocaust but there were a number of people who disappeared into the camps and were never heard of again.
You can’t tell the story too often.
Will look for it.
Exactly, Jeff. What makes THE LOST so compelling is that the search for what happened to these six people in the Holocaust gives a different perspective on the tragedy.
Patti, THE LOST is well worth your attention. It’s truly a great book.
I loved this book.
The start of it with the aunts having difficulty seeing Daniel and mourning the lost reminded me of the scene in AVALON with the family worrying about the welfare of its various members who hadn’t come to America.
You’re right, Beth. That section with Daniel and his aunts is reminiscent of that scene in AVALON.