
The World That We Knew
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Judith Light
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By:
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Alice Hoffman
About this listen
Audio bonus! The audio download edition includes an exclusive interview with Alice Hoffman and Judith Light!
New York Times Best Seller
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal
On the brink of World War II, with the Nazis tightening their grip on Berlin, a mother’s act of courage and love offers her daughter a chance of survival.
“[A] hymn to the power of resistance, perseverance, and enduring love in dark times…gravely beautiful…Hoffman the storyteller continues to dazzle.” (The New York Times Book Review)
At the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her 12-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. Her desperation leads her to Ettie, the daughter of a rabbi whose years spent eavesdropping on her father enables her to create a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Hanni’s daughter, Lea.
Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked. What does it mean to lose your mother? How much can one person sacrifice for love? In a world where evil can be found at every turn, we meet remarkable characters that take us on a stunning journey of loss and resistance, the fantastical and the mortal, in a place where all roads lead past the Angel of Death and love is never-ending.
©2019 Alice Hoffman (P)2019 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Captivating historical fiction+Hoffman interview!
- By Brendolynne on 06-04-14
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Marriage of Opposites
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Gloria Reuben, Tina Benko, Santino Fontana, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel's mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel's salvation is their maid Adelle's belief in her strengths and her deep, lifelong friendship with Jestine, Adelle's daughter. But Rachel's life is not her own.
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Intoxicating and Complex Journey
- By Mel on 09-02-15
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Story Sisters
- A Novel
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Nancy Travis
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Each of three sisters—Elv, Claire, and Meg—has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go. What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others?
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The tragic story....
- By Gloripb on 08-06-09
By: Alice Hoffman
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Skylight Confessions
- A Novel
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Mare Winningham
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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On the night her father dies, Arlyn is certain that the man she is meant to be with will walk into her life, but fate seems to be playing a trick when John Moody knocks on her door to ask for directions. Cool, practical, and deliberate, John is dreamy Arlyn's polar opposite. Yet the two are drawn powerfully together even when it is clear they are bound to bring each other grief.
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I really enjoyed this book
- By Kmb on 03-30-07
By: Alice Hoffman
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Green Angel and Green Witch
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Nora Hunter
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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When her family is lost in a terrible disaster, 15-year-old Green is haunted by loss and the past. Struggling to survive in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that Green relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal as she tells her own story.
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Beautiful as usual.
- By Ordained Reverend High Priestess on 02-20-25
By: Alice Hoffman
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Blackbird House
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: John Lee, Xe Sands, Amy Rubinate, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet. These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives.
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short stories
- By Kristina on 08-10-17
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Secret to Hummingbird Cake
- By: Celeste Fletcher McHale
- Narrated by: Nan Kelley
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In the South, you always say “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am.” You know everybody’s business. Football is a lifestyle, not a pastime. Food — especially dessert — is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as fiercely as you protect your family — even if the threat is something you cannot see.
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Not What I Expected
- By Butlermm7 on 08-31-20
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Turtle Moon
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Turtle Moon transports the listener to Verity, Florida, a place where anything can happen during the month of May, when migrating sea turtles come to town, mistaking the glow of the streetlights for the moon. A young single mother is murdered in her apartment and her baby is gone. Keith, a 12-year-old boy in the same apartment building also disappears. In pursuit of the baby, the boy and the killer, are Keith's divorced mother and a cop who himself was once considered the meanest boy in town.
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An enchanting story
- By A.J. on 05-09-11
By: Alice Hoffman
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From Sand and Ash
- By: Amy Harmon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided by circumstance and religion. As the years go by, the two find themselves falling in love. But the church calls to Angelo and, despite his deep feelings for Eva, he chooses the priesthood. Now, more than a decade later, Angelo is a Catholic priest and Eva is a woman with nowhere to turn. With the Gestapo closing in, Angelo hides Eva within the walls of a convent.
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Such beauty in the darkest of times <3
- By featherlashes on 12-04-16
By: Amy Harmon
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The Imperfects
- By: Amy Meyerson
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Millers are far from perfect. Estranged siblings Beck, Ashley, and Jake find themselves under one roof for the first time in years, forced to confront old resentments and betrayals, when their mysterious, eccentric matriarch, Helen, passes away. But their lives are about to change when they find a secret inheritance hidden among her possessions - the Florentine Diamond, a 137-carat yellow gemstone that went missing from the Austrian Empire a century ago.
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Good read!
- By Linda Ottey on 07-20-21
By: Amy Meyerson
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Everything My Mother Taught Me
- Inheritance collection
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first. For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness.
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This story is incredible
- By Shumpie on 02-01-20
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Overdue Life of Amy Byler
- By: Kelly Harms
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City. Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and - with a little encouragement from her friends - a few blind dates.
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Enjoyable narration. Story is an easy read.
- By Em Jay Reads on 07-18-19
By: Kelly Harms
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Nightbird
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumored to hide a monster. And 200 years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig's family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It's time to break the spell.
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I love this Alice Hoffman novel!
- By Lee Ann on 07-25-17
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Girl from the Channel Islands
- By: Jenny Lecoat
- Narrated by: Deryn Edwards
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Summer 1940: Hedy Bercu fled Vienna two years ago. Now she watches the skies over Jersey for German planes, convinced that an invasion is imminent. When it finally comes, there is no counterattack from Allied forces - the Channel Islands are simply not worth defending. Most islanders and occupying forces settle into an uneasy coexistence, but for Hedy, the situation is perilously different. For Hedy is Jewish — a fact that could mean deportation, or worse.
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Might be good
- By Anonymous User on 11-26-21
By: Jenny Lecoat
What listeners say about The World That We Knew
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- Danette
- 03-06-20
Breathtaking.
I can not even come up with the words of how lovely this was. Creating the Golom might have been one of the most magical sequences I have heard....
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3 people found this helpful
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- Hannah
- 11-30-19
Hoffman brings her magic to the Holocaust
This is a powerful story about the power of love and what it means to be human. Alice Hoffman is a master storyteller. I was drawn in to the lives of her characters and loved the way she woke different strands of the story together.
Judith Light’s narration was perfect.
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- bookDiva
- 03-28-20
Great book
My book club really enjoyed discussion this book. Lots of topics. It was the first magical realism book I was able to enjoy!
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- Shannon
- 10-17-19
Best yet !!
I enjoyed this AH novel, her portrayal of men Tall , dark, handsome and loyal is fabulous !
Thank you 🙏
The narration is haunting with Judith Light .
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- Vivian Diane Collins
- 01-03-23
Really different
I loved this story! It had depth and meaning!! I thought the reader sounded sincere and had a great reading voice.
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- Sandra Bishins
- 01-30-23
Not Alice Hoffman’s Best
The story was slow at the beginning. Got better as the story progressed. Judith Light was a poor narrator.
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- Susan Zalkind
- 03-29-23
BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL
Alice Hoffman's writing weaves thin veils of light and dark, fantasy and reality while meandering through the agonizing cruelty of lives being ripped apart as they find a glory in themselves because there is nothing more to loose.
The narration simultaneously expresses tones of dark and light, drawing the listener into the trance of the moment.
This book takes place during the Holocaust but transports us intimately into the lives of families, sons, daughters, lovers, friends, and the miracle of how some survived!
It's fascinating and uplifting. Not once have I felt that I couldn't handle it or wanted to turn it off. In fact, I can't wait to get back to it. It's magnificent - a piece of breathtaking beauty.
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- Suzanne Dallimore
- 02-06-22
The Power of Love
In the worst of times, when being a Jewish girl in 1940s Germany was a death sentence, a mother's love manifest in the form of a supernatural being created to protect her child from the trains to the death camp Auschwitz. The girl, her protector and those they encounter reveal the courage and sacrifice that saved so many French Jews. Through sorrow and loss, grief and rage, one emotion saves the girl and those dear to her: love.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Susan Friesz
- 08-02-20
Hoffman is a literary artist
The story line kept you hooked from the first chapter to the last words. Hoffman painted the scenes and characters with her detailed descriptions. I enjoyed the book.
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- nancy
- 09-21-21
Captivating
One of the best story's yet. My favorite, to date, by Alice Hoffman. She writes from the heart.
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