Review: The Things We Cherished

Charlotte isn't the kind to tell Brian to get lost - or at least demand an extortionate fee. So, old passions well and truly stirred, she sets off for Munich, where an elderly Roger is refusing to co-operate with his defence attorney: Brian's brooding, sexy, older brother Jack.

Passion, when it does come, is tepid

Time splits, and we learn, in parallel chapters, the story of Roger and Hans Dykmans, and Hans's Jewish wife Magda. Roger, in love with his brother's wife, is given the opportunity by the Gestapo to free her - if he betrays Hans. In scenes across Germany, Poland and Italy, Charlotte and Jack try to search for the evidence to clear Roger's name.

There's more to The Things We Cherished than standard chick lit. The moral complexity of acts committed in the most desperate times has undeniable intrigue. It reminds us how guilt has shades of grey, and to consider whether it isn't too easy to write off Nazi collaborators as purely evil.

This is the fifth book from Jenoff, who prior to her literary success worked for the US state department in Krakow. She knows her history and engages with Europe's post-war challenges. But the human side of the book, particularly in its female characters, is lacking. Magda, the object of Roger's adoration, is no more than a flimsy, literary device. Charlotte, who should provide the antidote to the passive Magda, can't concentrate on her case for more than five minutes without thinking about a man. But passion, when it does come, is tepid.

An easy read, but little to challenge the brain or stir the heart.

Jessica Elgot is a JC reporter