They Went Left cover art

They Went Left

 Preview

Audible Standard 1-month free trial

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo + applicable tax after 30-day trial. Cancel Anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

They Went Left

Written by: Monica Hesse
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $34.39

Buy Now for $34.39

In the rubble of a broken continent, a girl must solve a mystery whose answers could rebuild her family—or break her completely, in this New York Times bestselling, critically acclaimed tour de force historical novel from Monica Hesse, author of Girl in the Blue Coat.

Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp say the war is over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal, her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else—her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja—they went left.

Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing?

“This is not just a story about death and survival—it’s also about choosing to live on, even in the face of genocide, trauma and devastating loss. And what could be more relevant to our world today?” —Sharon Cameron, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light in Hidden Places, writing in The New York Times

"A heartbreaking, gorgeously written story ... The ending left me breathless and awed by its expression of enduring love."-Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys

“CRUCIAL.” —TheNew York Times Book Review

?Booklist ? Bookpage ? The Bulletin ? Publishers Weekly ? Shelf Awareness ? SLC ? SLJ

 Family Family & Relationships Historical Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Mysteries & Detectives Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Romance Fiction Holocaust
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

What the critics say

"Hesse writes with tenderness and insight about the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive and the ways we cobble together family with whatever we have. When the plot twists come, they are gut punches--some devastating, others offering hope... Crucial."—New York Times Book Review
"beautifully tragic...an incredibly impressive novel about a timeframe and group of people that history often forgets. Their stories will stay with me forever."—--Hypable
* "A heartbreaking and heartwarming story of survival, loss, and renewal. Sure to please a variety of readers; those interested in historical fiction, romance, and mystery will not be able to put this book down."—School Library Journal, starred review
* "Hesse again proves to be a master of verisimilitude, bringing the realities of existence in the immediate postwar period to visceral life through painstaking detail. Her beautifully realized, highly empathetic characters come to life, too, in the pages of this superbly crafted novel...like real life, there is heartbreaking sadness here but also hope that life, finally, will be whole and fine, A to Z."—Booklist, starred review
* "Hesse's meticulous research is evident on every page but never distracts from her propulsive plot. Combining history, romance and mystery, They Went Left is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story of what it takes to survive after trauma."—BookPage, starred review
* "Compelling."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "Featuring factual locations and covering a period of time not often focused on, this is an excellent book to add to a Holocaust collection. ...This book would be valuable for all high schools and should be considered a must-purchase."—School Library Connection, starred review
"A heartbreaking, gorgeously written story...The ending left me breathless and awed by its expression of enduring love."—Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Boys
"Zofia's harrowing journey to find Abek and the fellow survivors she meets along the way will stay with the reader--particularly the echoes of the present evoked in a narrative of the past."—Refinery29
All stars
Most Relevant
A story that is both compelling and harrowing to listen to… Caitlin Davies does a beautiful job bringing moment to moment to life!

Harrowing story beautifully written and narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.