Joy of joys. I’m reading! It would be more joyful if I didn’t painfully slog through the last third of this book though.
First third: An older gentleman looks back at his time in Salzburg right at the end of World War II. He’s assigned to guard the loot of the Hungarian Gold Train which holds the personal effects of Hungary’s Jews. -> Nicely paced, heartbreaking, and a little suspenseful.
Second third: His granddaughter fulfills his dying wish for her to find the rightful owner of a pendent he swiped from the Hungarian Gold Train’s stash. -> Story starts slowing down, characters seem less real and more cartoony. One of them I visualized as a bad guy from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Third third: The background of the pendent. Well, mostly. It’s the story of two friends – the original owner of the pendent and the friend she gives it to. Their story is told via the notes of a psychoanalyst who is working with one of the girls. -> SLOG. I was hoping some incredible revelation happened at the end to make it all make sense. Sadly, this was not quite the case. I found the view of the psychoanalyst to be odd, the pace of the book significantly slower, and my connection to the characters lost. Bummer.
