Julie's Review: In Another Time

Author: Jillian Cantor
Series: None
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pages: 336
Obtained: Great Thoughts Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: I had to collect myself after finishing the book
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II—and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival. Love brought them together. But only time can save them…

1931, Germany. Bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist, and immediately he feels a powerful chemistry between them. It isn’t long before they fall in love and begin making plans for the future. As their love affair unfolds over the next five years, the climate drastically changes in Germany as Hitler comes to power. Their love is tested with the new landscape and the realities of war, not the least of which is that Hanna is Jewish and Max is not. But unbeknownst to Hanna is the fact that Max has a secret, which causes him to leave for months at a time—a secret that Max is convinced will help him save Hanna if Germany becomes too dangerous for her because of her religion. In 1946, Hanna Ginsberg awakens in a field outside of Berlin. Disoriented and afraid, she has no memory of the past ten years and no idea what has happened to Max. With no information as to Max’s whereabouts—or if he is even still alive—she decides to move to London to live with her sister while she gets her bearings. Even without an orchestra to play in, she throws herself completely into her music to keep alive her lifelong dream of becoming a concert violinist. But the music also serves as a balm to heal her deeply wounded heart and she eventually gets the opening she long hoped for. Even so, as the days, months, and years pass, taking her from London to Paris to Vienna to America, she continues to be haunted by her forgotten past, and the fate of the only man she has ever loved and cannot forget. Told in alternating viewpoints—Max in the years leading up to WWII, and Hanna in the ten years after—In Another Time is a beautiful novel about love and survival, passion and music, across time and continents. ~amazon.com 

Review: What I say next for this novel I do not say lightly at all; if you loved Time Travelers Wife, then you will love In Another Time. Ok, now that I have that out of the way I can get on with the rest of the review. You will fall head over heels into this story, you might even fall a bit in love with the romantic Max during the course of the novel. He is the epitome of a romantic. Hanna, on the other hand, needs a bit more coaxing in her ability to love. She is singularly focused on her violin and playing in the Berlin Symphony so she was a bit thrown when Max walked into her life one fateful morning.

Told through flashbacks and "current" time, we see their love and admiration grow for each other within the background of Hitler's rise to power. We see how the growing unease makes Max more frantic to ensure that Hanna is safe. It becomes his obsession and at times has disastrous effects on his romance with Hanna.

Hanna for being pragmatic has a hard time truly understanding that because of her religion/ethnicity she is in grave danger as the Nazi's control on Germany continues to grow. She is consumed with her love for Max, obtaining a place in the Berlin Symphony and her ailing mother.

Max and Hanna's love story is not without it's problems. While some of them are normal relationship issues, others of them are not.

What I think will stick with me is about powerful the love of music is and how it can truly save someone. I do think that music has the power to heal. Also, the power of love and not just romantic love either is balm for the soul. Sometimes just the memory or recollection can help heal the pain.

There are so many layers to this novel that I don't want to ruin it for you. So I've left significant story lines out of my review.  I strongly suggest that you read this novel immediately.


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