Review – We Shall Remember by Emma Fraser

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

Sarah’s mother, Lily is recovering in hospital after a stroke when she is contacted by a solicitor, regarding the death of Lord Glendale. Lily has been named in Lord Glendale’s will and if a Magdalena Drobnik cannot be traced, two properties will be passed onto her. Due to her mother’s health, it is Sarah who takes on the responsibility of dealing with the solicitors. She has never heard of Lord Glendale or Magdalena but she is determined to find out who they are and the connection they have to her mother. Her only clues are two photographs passed on to Lily from Lord Glendale via the solicitor, so Sarah knows she has a difficult task ahead of her. 

I was intrigued by the blurb of We Shall Remember and it certainly lives up to its mysterious premise. Set both during the Second World War and the late 1980s as Sarah begins her search, We Shall Remember is a powerful and at times gritty tale of love and loss. I liked how the book alternated between the time periods, showing us glimpses of life under Nazi occupation in Poland and the story Sarah is about to uncover as well as Sarah’s path. Bit by bit, we learn of the horrors of Poland during this time through the eyes of a young medical student, Irena, who is thrust into a world of fear and adversity under Nazi reign. But Irena is strong and fights back in any way she can and I admired her bravery throughout the book.

At times, I thought some of the chapters centring around Sarah could be a little sluggish, but this may have been down to the fact that I found Irena’s story so fascinating and I was itching to get back to the action and find out about her connection to Magdalena, Lord Glendale and, of course, Lily. The subject of We Shall Remember is pretty harrowing, but I enjoyed the book and thought it was a great, insightful read.

8/10

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