Shadows We Carry

2023 Best Book Awards Winner in Fiction: Historical
2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Silver Medalist in Fiction (Historical - Event/Era)
A SheReads.com Best Book Club Picks of Spring 2023

Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Novels of 2023

-Hasty Book List

"Shadows We Carry deftly explores the experience of navigating deeply held family secrets and bloodlines, confusing religious identities, and the scars of World War II . . . . Original, exceptional, fully engaging from cover to cover, a compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining read."

--Midwest Book Review

"In this well-researched, char-ac-ter-dri-ven sto-ry, Ain exam-ines many themes and issues with insight and com-pas-sion. She folds top-ics such as fem-i-nism, anti-semitism, gay rights, abor-tion, and sec-ond-gen-er-a-tion Holo-caust sur-vivor con-cerns into the char-ac-ters' lives. Because Ain thought-ful-ly inter-weaves numer-ous his-tor-i-cal events, sig-nif-i-cant nos-tal-gic details, and cul-tur-al and geo-graph-ic ref-er-ences, the char-ac-ters' sto-ries will res-onate deeply with those who expe-ri-enced the era."

--Renita Last, Jewish Book Council

"Shadows We Carry by Meryl Ain is an important new book. It is not necessary to read her debut novel, The Takeaway Men, to understand this sequel, whose merits stand on their own. Its themes include: immigration, assimilation, questions of identity, how we define ourselves, and whether Holocaust survivors' families have a responsibility to track down Nazi perpetrators. I was deeply affected by the novel's characters and events. The issues raised are as valid today as they were 50 years ago. Book clubs, congregations, and other groups must read and discuss this work. Bring plenty of tissues with you."

--Linda Ettinger Lieberman, Blogger, The Times of Israel

"When I finished Shadows We Carry by Meryl Ain, I cried. Reading this book was akin to going home . . . . To say it is moving is an understatement. For many readers, the tale of twin sisters Bronka and JoJo will be an eye-opener to Jewish life in a New York gone by. Bravo."
--Marilyn Simon Rothstein, author of Crazy To Leave You, Husbands and Other Sharp Objects, and Lift and Separate

"The late 1960s of Shadows We Carry was a time of turmoil -- political and social turbulence, cultural upheaval, and fraying of the bonds of convention. Meryl Ain has delineated those years beautifully. We feel right there with the novel's main characters . . . their stories will have great resonance for contemporary readers. Each sister must fight for her own rights as women and as Jews. But each needs to look beyond herself toward a society free from the cruelty of discrimination and the brutality of hatred . . . a memorable novel."
--Susan Isaacs, New York Times best-selling author

"Enlightening and evocative, Shadows We Carry explores the experience of navigating deeply held family secrets and bloodlines, confusing religious identities, and the scars of World War II in the wake of revolutionary societal change."

--Hasty Book