Virtual Osprey Library Book Club (The World that We Knew by Alice Hoffman)

In 1941, during humanity’s darkest hour, three unforgettable young women must act with courage and love to survive, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman.

In Berlin, at the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. She finds her way to a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked.

Lea and Ava travel from Paris, where Lea meets her soulmate, to a convent in western France known for its silver roses; from a school in a mountaintop village where three thousand Jews were saved. Meanwhile, Ettie is in hiding, waiting to become the fighter she’s destined to be.

What does it mean to lose your mother? How much can one person sacrifice for love? In a world where evil can be found at every turn, we meet remarkable characters that take us on a stunning journey of loss and resistance, the fantastical and the mortal, in a place where all roads lead past the Angel of Death and love is never ending. 

We will be reading and discussing "The World that We Knew" by Alice Hoffman in this virtual edition of the Osprey Public Library's book discussion group. 

Copies of the book will be available for pickup at the Osprey Public Library or through the Sarasota County Public Library Catalog, (Search the Catalog). It is also available as an ebook through cloudLibrary or OverDrive/Libby

This virtual program will be hosted in Zoom. Once you register you will be sent a confirmation email with information about using Zoom and you will also receive the Meeting ID and password.