What do readers think of The Things We Cherished by Pam Jenoff? Write your own review.

Some history, some mystery, and some deftly woven twists and turns make for a quick read. The chapters zigzag between past and present with the quest for and possession of a very special timepiece as the crux of the book. I enjoyed reading about the events of the past; I found the present love story somewhat hackneyed.
It's an "airplane reading" novel and while I enjoyed reading it, the writing could have been more sophisticated.





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This is a story about the human cost of World War 11. It is a story as old as time. One brother falling in love with another brother’s wife, the other brother in love with mankind in general but can’t find time to show his love for his family. Jenoff tells the story by moving back and forth through time and does it beautifully. She uses the dynamics between brothers to move the story along. She goes back to the turn of the 20th century to create the setting that will eventually lead to the story’s conclusion. Her writing is clean and easy to follow. Jenoff demonstrates that things are not always what they appear to be, both in the past and in the future, and it is always foolish to jump to quick and easy conclusions based on appearances. This is a simple story told with tenderness and in the end, broke my heart. I enjoyed it.

I loved this story of love and suspense. There is a love connection not only between the public defender and the brother of her ex-lover but between the accused Nazi collaborator, who the public defender is asked to help defend, and the accused's brother's wife.

The book starts in 2009, jumps to 1903, 1922, 1940, 1942, 1961, and 1911, jumping into 2009 in and about the earlier years. I sometimes got confused as to where I was.

All in all, a lovely story.

The book, The Things We Cherished, is a combination of a modern day romance and historical fiction. It is the story of a man, Roger Dykmans, who is being accused of war crimes during World War II, and is refusing to assist his attorneys in providing a defense. The three attorneys involved in the case have an interesting love triangle between a woman and two brothers. This story is interwoven with various tales of historical fiction involving the clock and the various families that owned it - primarily throughout World War II. Each of the individual stories were quite engaging separately; however, the blending of the clock into people’s lives, leading into modern day, was very forced and not very plausible.

I liked this book a lot, and will look for more by this author. I became involved in the story right away, and found it quite interesting. Chapters alternated between the past and the present, and it worked for me in this novel, providing an understanding of how, and perhaps why, certain things happened. I am drawn to books which have connections to the World War II era, and this one did not disappoint.

Pam Jenoff has used a handmade anniversary clock to move this story through time. It was an interesting way to bring the characters together, though it was a little confusing, at first. I want to have liked this book more than I did. I found the romance distracting from the story I really wanted to read. Charlotte was an interesting character, when she wasn’t rehashing her previous relationship with Jack’s brother.

There is so much historical fiction from this time period that it’s hard to shed new light on it. Jenoff comes very close to doing so by focusing on the possible war crimes of the defendant in the case, but she lost some of the momentum with me by spending too much time trying to write a romance novel at the same time.

I selected this book because I love historical fiction, and I particularly enjoy things set in WWII. However, while I did like the book, it was not a "must read" for me, mostly because the romance aspect is predominant, as opposed to the historical narrative. From the synopsis, I expected more in the way of courtroom and suspense elements. To be fair, I don't tend to read fiction with a strong romance component, so I am probably not the right audience for this one.

The book was very well-written, and the story was engrossing. I just expected something different.

Perhaps expectation set my standards too high, as I've been wanting to read Jenoff's books for ages. I found this book to be ok for a quick summer read. The plot was interesting, but the characters were kind of flat, and I wanted to be "convinced" more of their feelings rather than told. Lots of cliches in the writing also bothered me, but I will certainly try another of her books.