The Daughter's Tale, Correa - C +

                                            At best, I would characterize this novel as serviceable. It felt predictable. The author has put together a plot focusing on loss, and indeed Lina/Elise lost a great deal throughout the war. Viera and Lina Sternberg were born to Jewish parents in Berlin in the mid-30's. Before Dr. Sternberg died in Saschausen,  he had arranged passage to Cuba for his daughters. Only Viera made it. Lina and her mother found refuge in the French countryside. Amanda, her mother, wrote to Viera, care of her brother in Cuba, but the letters were always returned. Under her French name, Elise, Lina survived the war with Danielle Duval, her 'sister' according to Father Marcel, and later, the baker's wife,  who protected them. She was adopted by a New York relative. Seventy years later, Viera's granddaughter appears at her front door with the letters written by Amanda.