Tears of Amber

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 13,946 ratings

Price: 4.99

Last update: 08-03-2024


About this item

From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the bonds of love and courage.

With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.

But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish laborer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.

Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.

Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they’ll become pawns caught between two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.

Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that draws them together against insurmountable odds.


Top reviews from the United States

Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable (for better or worse)
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2024
This was one of the most well-written, well-translated and well-edited books I have read in quite a while.

It was also the single most torturous and heart-wrenching book I've read in quite a while.

My only complaints about this book would be that it DESPERATELY needed at least 25-30 more pages of happy ending, and about 100 less pages of torturous sadness and loss.

All in all though, this is a book I will likely never forget, the emotion and vivid descriptions so powerful as they were.

Segovia is a phenomenal author, and despite her narrative style being slightly odd and it taking me a beat to get accustomed to, I ultimately felt like it was absolutely perfect for this story, and complimented it in an unusual way that was 100% excellent to me by the end.

Simon Bruni, Segovia's translator, also gets 5 stars from me. Had he not been outstanding at his task, so very much critical nuance would have been lost from this story.

A brilliant piece of work, but if human suffering and seemingly neverending loss are as hard for you to read for "pleasure" as they are for me, definitely don't use this book to set any goals for speed reading, and try to read it only when you're in a good frame of mind already, preferably outside in the sun.
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic story with a surprise around every corner and unexpected ending.
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
I like historical fiction stories. This one did not disappoint. This is the first I had read about the non military Germans.
The way Sofia wrote the two stories parallel and then braided them was Very surprising in a way that reality can be.
I am going to look for The Murmur of Bees and other books that Sofia has written.
Constant Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, Memorable, Personal and Global
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2021
This is a story that will haunt your dreams. The novel is focused on two German families and their experiences during WWII. We have all studied the huge scale of the war and the enormous losses perpetrated by the Nazi regime and those incurred by all sides in the war. The reader will understand more about that scale and collateral losses with the intensely personal accounts that are told here about German civilians. These are not the losses that I studied in a history class. You may feel conflicted about a sympathetic portrayal of patriotic German civilians who listened to Hitler and supported the war effort. The sympathy is not directed to their politics but to their humanity. (A humanity that was denied for victims of Nazi persecution. We are called to be better than the Nazis.) The two families have not embraced all the Nazi hate toward Hitler’s targets of persecution, and they probably knew nothing of the holocaust, but they knew about the Untermensch doctrines and the risks to anyone viewed as inferior. The writing is so skilled that I was immersed in the lives of the families. The perspective in each of the families is through the eyes of a child. Ilse is the daughter of a farmer who is essential to the war effort as a farmer. Arno is the son of a carpenter who is drafted to serve on the Eastern front. They are each about 10 years old at the beginning. Their families are from different towns, and their stories are told separately. I bought it this book because The Murmur of Bees was so beautifully written. This novel is completely different, except that is also brilliantly written. Sofia Segovia is an enormous talent. She has a gift for creating memorable characters and telling a story that feels filled with truth. It is a long book, but it needed every page. It is unflinching in recounting the fear, the hunger, the cold, the brutality, the cruelties, and the realities of war as they devastate the civilian population. It is memorable and harsh with moments of great grace and beauty.
Alpha_Female
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book about the horrors of war and the human capacity to endure
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
This is the first book I’ve read where the perspective is from that of the Germans during World War II. It is a rich and vibrant book, intense, and addictive to read. The only caution I would give is that it explores the horrors of war on all those who suffer through it, including animals. Those scenes may be hard for some readers to take.
SR011994
5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Side of the Story
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2024
This is the other side of the WWII story, the story of people who experienced unimaginable tragedy just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is a well told story of two Prussian families, torn apart by the war. It’s heartbreaking but it is also a nod toward resilience and the will to survive. I appreciated the storytelling, how the author wove the two stories together. It’s a reminder to us all that war is hell; before, during and after.
Susan Aylworth
4.0 out of 5 stars Choppy
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2024
The story is choppy and sometimes hard to follow, but it shows a side of the Second World War I had never considered before. Average German families living far from Berlin were torn from their homes and separated from one another and from their homeland by the ambitions and machinations of others. Their bravery amid suffering is a tale worth reading.
Senam Aseye
5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Story
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2024
Tears of Amber is an unforgettable story told in a remarkable and beautiful way. This a book I will come back to again and again.

Highly recommended to any historical fiction lover.
J Burt
3.0 out of 5 stars a Good Read
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024
I was very disappointed as I absolutely loved Murmur of the Bees, Segovia's first novel. War on the horizon, from the perspective of a child was too long and the ending -- or meat of the story -- too short.

Best Sellers in

 
 

Where Waters Meet

4 4 out of 5 stars 7203
4.99
 
 

The Teacher: A Psychological Thriller

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 168827
3.99
 
 

Sweet Collide: A Hockey Romance (Saints Of Redville)

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 5601
4.99
 
 

Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet Book 1)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 127675
4.99
 
 

Learn Your Lesson: A Single Dad Hockey Romance (Kings of the Ice)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 5299
5.99
 
 

The Alone Time

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 15123
4.99
 
 

The Bootlegger's Daughter: A Novel

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14812
4.99
 
 

Ask for Andrea: A Thriller

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 55735
0.99