Rating: 
Summary: Shallow
Review: The "German" in this book was so stereotyped and shallow to one who is familiar with the true culture and history of the German people. This book perpetuates many myths and does the truth a disservice. Too bad another culture could not have been the backdrop -- but that would do another country a disservice as well. For those wishing a plot, not totally credible, this is the book for you. Don't believe the attitudes of the characters, however. They ring false. By reading this on a shallow level, a reader may be amused and entertained. A lot of grains of salt have to be consumed in reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The book sways your emotions!
Review: The book spins the tale of a family of Jewish heritage. The heroine, Caroline, fled Eurpope to the US when she was merely a teenager. Having lost her parents and her lover, she accepted the offer of a marriage of convenience. The peace Caroline yearned for disappeared when her daugther,Eva found out the truth about her own father. The 'truth' was to haunt the family for many years before it finally came to light.This book comes with dramas and twists. It has also not failed to invoke many conflicting emotions in me. We are supposed to love Caroline, the heroine, who was brave and strong, but yet, we can't love her totally, from the way she behaves towards her lawful husband. Joel seemed to be the perfect guy, totally devoted to his wife but yet he married another in total contrast of his late wife, 2 years after her death. And of course, the truth about Walter and Lore, after we've hated and loved them for nearly more than 3 quarters of the book.... This is definitely one of Belva Plain's better books.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting novel of betrayal and secrets
Review: The setting is Nazi Germany in the Hartzinger household, which consists of a Jewish mother, the doctor father and two daughters, one adopted. In order to protect Caroline from the horrors that are surely coming, the Hartzingers send her to the U.S., along with her adopted sister Lore. Unknown to her beloved parents, Caroline has entered into a liaison with Walter, a neighbor whose father happens to be a high-ranking Nazi. With vows of eternal love and plans to be married when they reunite in America, Caroline and Walter consummate their relationship. The outcome is predictable, but nonetheless sorrowful because of the succeeding events and the deception which these events lead to. Lore is a faithful older sister who consistently does what she thinks best for Caroline. The reader is left to decide whether Lore is indeed a heroine or not. Belva Plain deals honestly with family relationships during difficult times when decisions are not always made by black and white choices--the gray areas may often be the wisest.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull until the end
Review: This book was only mildly interesting until the end. The prose is good but the plot has few high points. The characters are shallow; they hop from one ill-conceived situation to another with little explanation of their motives. If the ending had not been so surprising I would have given this book only one star.
Rating:
Summary: Dull until the end
Review: This book was only mildly interesting until the end. The prose is good but the plot has few high points. The characters are shallow; they hop from one ill-conceived situation to another with little explanation of their motives. If the ending had not been so surprising I would have given this book only one star.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: This was the first of her books that I have read. The story was intriguing and real. The courage of her heroine was remarkable. Definitely recommended
Rating: 
Summary: Takes a while to get into the book
Review: Was hard to keep my interest at first--almost gave up and closed the book. Ended up finishing it though and it did become more interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Shallow & Insipid
Review: What a disappointment. The characters are shallow, the prose too flowery and unbelievable, and the story factually inaccurate. For example, after Eve returns to college after her first semester, she thinks that it had been a wonderful Christmas. Her parents weren't Christians, they were Jews who lost their parents in the Holocaust. Moreover, the author glossed over such important events like the death of Joel's and Caroline's parents that it didn't really seem to matter to the story.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Betrayal
Review: Young, vivacious Caroline Hartzinger and her older, plain adopted sister, Lore are forced to flea from Germany in the late 1930's due to the impending war and incarceration of Jews. Their father is a Gentile, but their mother is a Jew, and the couple has been unable to obtain emigration papers. Caroline falls in love with Walter, a young German whose father is a known Nazi. She and Lore escape to Switzerland while awaiting their papers to emigrate to America. While they are in Switzerland, Walter visits frequently, their relationship becomes intimate, and Caroline discovers that she is pregnant. When they don't hear from Walter, Lore reports that he has become a Nazi soldier and they will never see him again. Finally, their papers for America arrive, and they begin the journey with sad hearts because their parents still can't leave, and because Caroline is devastated by Walter's absence. Caroline is desperately sick during the entire journey, and when they arrive in the U.S. they are taken in temporarily by the Sandlers, a kind couple in New York, until they make their plans to move to Ivy, Wisconsin. The Sandlers introduced Caroline and Lore to young Joel Hirsch, another recent immigrant. Joel is smitten with Caroline, although the attraction is not mutual. When the news of her pregnancy becomes known, Joel proposes and everyone, including Lore, pushes her to marry him. She doesn't love him, but the shame of her pregnancy, and Lore's sudden announcement that she has cancer, force her into accepting his offer. After a small, subdued ceremony, they pack up and move to Ivy. Thus begins the long, sometimes boring recital of the trials and tribulations of Caroline, Joel and Lore. Lore's "cancer" turns out to have been misdiagnosed, and Caroline continues to treat Joel with disdain. After the birth of Eve, Joel announced that he would be leaving because it is clear she will never love him as he does her. Finally, after the U.S. joins the war, a local boy is killed in Pearl Harbor, and Caroline realizes she will never see her parents again, she admits Joel into her heart and bed, and their life begins anew. Lore, who never marries, is a steadfast supporter of their family and always there with them through every triumph and tragedy. But is she really what she seems to be? Can one person really be that unselfish and altruistic? I wanted to be taken in by this story, and I wanted to develop empathy for the characters, but it just didn't happen. The prose is too flat, and the characters not fully developed. The plodding style made it seem like reading some else's journal of the mundane events of their daily lives. The ultimate betrayal that is revealed in the last chapters of the book was somewhat foretold earlier in the book, but not well integrated into the plot, so seemed almost like an afterthought...as if the author thought she should throw in something more meaty and interesting after all. It was too little too late, as I was fairly bored with the "Legacy of Silence" by then.
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