They Went Left

by Monica Hesse

First published 2020

Eighteen-year-old Zofia was separated from her family at Auschwitz, the sole survivor save her young brother Abek. Now liberated, Zofia embarks on a perilous journey across war-ravaged Europe to fulfill her promise to find Abek. In displaced persons camps, she meets others grappling with unimaginable loss, including a desperate twin searching for her sibling and a former heiress longing for a simple life. As Zofia delves into the mystery of her brother's whereabouts, she must confront the painful truths of her past and decide if the answers she seeks will break her or help her rebuild a shattered world.

Genres: holocaust, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, 21st-century

Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, grief

Setting: Auschwitz, Europe

Period: World War II

384 pages · Paperback · Little Brown & Co

Content warnings: death, violence

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