“Jillian Cantor’s In Another Time is a love song to the most powerful of all human emotions: hope. It is the story of Max and Hanna, two star-crossed lovers fighting to stay together during an impossible moment in history. It is gripping, mysterious, romantic, and altogether unique. I was enchanted by this beautiful, heartbreaking novel.” — Ariel Lawhon, author of I Was Anastasia
A sweeping … Anastasia
A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II—and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival.
1931, Germany. Bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist, and immediately they feel a powerful chemistry. It isn’t long before they fall in love and begin making plans for the future. As their love affair unfolds over the next five years, Hitler comes to power. Their love is tested with the new landscape and the realities of war, not the least of which is that Hanna is Jewish and Max is not. But unbeknownst to Hanna is the fact that Max has a secret, which causes him to leave for months at a time—a secret that Max is convinced will help him save Hanna if Germany becomes too dangerous for her because of her religion.
In 1946, Hanna Ginsberg awakens in a field outside of Berlin. Disoriented and afraid, she has no memory of the past ten years and no idea what has happened to Max. With no information as to Max’s whereabouts—or if he is even still alive—she decides to move to London to live with her sister while she gets her bearings. Even without an orchestra to play in, she throws herself completely into her music to keep alive her lifelong dream of becoming a concert violinist. But the music also serves as a balm to heal her deeply wounded heart and she eventually gets the opening she long hoped for. Even so, as the days, months, and years pass, taking her from London to Paris to Vienna to America, she continues to be haunted by her forgotten past, and the fate of the only man she has ever loved and cannot forget.
Told in alternating viewpoints—Max in the years leading up to WWII, and Hanna in the ten years after—In Another Time is a beautiful novel about love and survival, passion and music, across time and continents.
more
In Another Time is a beautifully written story of love during World War Two but not like any I’ve ever read before. I was transported back to a time when just surviving was a struggle. I loved the story of Hanna and Max! Jillian Cantor has infused the historical fiction genre with a twist of fresh air. Loved it!!
Well written. A good read for a snowy day.
Oh my!!! I have just concluded reading Jillian Cantor’s novel, “In Another Time”. What an original, tragic, mind-blowing, surprising effort. I love her prose, her “voice” if you will. After the first page, I felt a connection. I felt as if I were sitting with Jillian over a cup of coffee (with Amaretto cream) and hearing the passion in her voice, hearing the lilting strains of the violin, as she slowly revealed the drama of Hanna and Max. What a love story! I am adding Jillian’s other novels to my TBR list. What a writer she is!
Absolutely spellbinding story.
The author gives a beautifully written story that spans decades, and countries, all the while focusing on a couple that love one another, but in a time that it wasn’t allowed.
This is a historical novel and brings the times alive in such a real way, and we put faces to these individuals. Can’t you just picture someone not wanting to leave the only home they have ever known, telling themselves it will be ok, only it wasn’t!
Up front I am not a lover of sci-fi, but given this time period, if it were only true, and would I wish for more to have it, yes! Love how it was woven into this book.
While I might have yearned for a different ending, I so enjoyed this book!
I received this book through Edelweiss and the Publisher Harper Perennial and was not required to give a positive review.
In Another Time is a beautifully written and incredibly moving book. I was completely immersed in the lives of Hanna and Max, a young Jewish violinist and the man she loves who get caught up in the terror that swept through Germany in the 1930’s. Their story is haunting and compelling from beginning to end, transcending time and events that threaten their deep love. This story is unique and original, a seamless meld of historical fiction, romance, and magic.
In Another Time by Jillian Cantor is an incredibly moving story about 2 people during Hitler’s rise to power and beyond.
What it’s about: Max is a Christian bookshop owner and Hanna a Jewish violinist hoping to join an orchestra. They fall in love right before Hitler comes into power and everything changes. The story follows their relationship during Hitler’s rise to power and after when Hanna wakes up in a field without Max and no memory of the past 10 years of her life. When she wakes up the war is over and Max has seemingly disappeared. Little does she know Max had a secret that would cause him to disappear for days or even months at a time, and they will eventually be reunited once again.
In Another Time is such a beautiful story, and I really liked how Jillian Cantor tells us about Hitler’s rise to power without going into a ton of gory details. We all (and if you don’t you really should) know what happened to Jews during World War II and none of it was good. The story is still moving, but it is really more about Hanna and Max’s relationship and how Hitler coming into office affected their life in Germany. This is a love story, but also a story about music and the war.
I was also very intrigued by the fact that Cantor chooses to use time travel as an aspect of this book. I didn’t actually know anything about Einstein and Rosen’s wormhole theory before reading this, but it is quite fascinating and I love how she incorporated it into In Another Time.
This novel is also a very quick read coming in at just under 5 hours of reading time for me (4 hours 45 minutes to be exact), and the pacing was so good that I found myself not wanting to put it down. In Another Time alternates between Hanna and Max’s POVs plus past and present which made things very interesting. This book is full of mostly short chapters as well which I always love.
Final Thought: If you want a story about World War II that incorporates love, time travel, and music then this is the book for you! Hanna and Max’s story broke my heart, but I really enjoyed the love story and the musical aspect. Hanna is very passionate about her violin and while not being musical myself, it was still interesting to read about. I may not have given this a 5, but this book is worth every moment you take to read it.
A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II—and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival.
I loved this book so much. War genre is one of my favorites and this is definitely a favorite. Loved each of the main characters very much, especially Max and Hanna. Very hard to put this down and I did shed a few tears over this one. Breathtakingly beautiful and haunting. I will not forget these characters quickly.
#Edelweiss #HarperCollins
Max is on his college campus when he hears the most beautiful music. He finds Hanna and her violin. They begin their love affair. The year is 1931 and they are in Germany and Hanna is Jewish. This love story is told by Max and Hanna. Max’s chapters are leading up to the war and Hanna’s chapters are 10 years after the war. This is an amazingly written love story that has you involved so much that you can’t put the book down. The characters are so real and you feel everything they feel. The descriptions of the scenery and what is going on in the world have you right there with Max and Hanna. This is a love story written in a terrible time in our history. I received an advanced readers copy. All opinions are my own.
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “In Another Time” by Jillian Cantor
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “In Another Time” by Jillian Cantor, HarperPerennial, March 2019
Jillian Cantor, Author of “In Another Time” has written an intense, captivating, emotional, intriguing, enthralling, poignant, and beautifully written novel. The Genres for this novel are Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, and a little Science Fiction with Time Travel. The timeline for this story is between 1931 and 1946. The timeline does go to the past or future when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes her interesting characters as complex and complicated. In this novel, Jillian Cantor has layered a story with love, war, music, books, family, loss and hope.
Max Beissenger, a book store owner first meets Hanna Ginsberg, a talented concert violinist in 1931. Max is immediately drawn to Hanna, and feels her music can be compared to fire and passion. The two are like magnets and are attracted to one another. As time goes on in Germany, it becomes apparent that Hanna is in grave danger, because she is Jewish.
Max has a secret special closet in his store and home, and he is certain no one could possible understand what it means. Max leaves for months at a time, and is convinced that he can save Hanna.
With Hitler in power, Germany is a devastating place for any Jew.
In 1946, Hanna finds herself in Berlin near a church. She has no memories of the last ten years. The amazing thing is that Hanna does have the memory to play the violin as well as before. What has happened in the last ten years? What has happened to Max? I highly recommend this amazing novel to readers who enjoy a thought-provoking and well written story. I received an ARC from Edelweiss for my honest review.
Jillian Cantor delivers another beautifully written, emotional story with her latest book IN ANOTHER TIME. Cantor has the ability to take some small detail from the lives of Jews under the reign of Hitler and create a story that tugs at our hearts.
Hanna Ginsberg loves nothing more than playing her violin. The music overtakes her and she plays with passion and fire. One day in 1931 Max Beissinger is drawn to the beautiful music coming from the auditorium on campus at the university in Berlin. He is immediately attracted to Hanna. They begin seeing each other and soon are in love. Hanna fills the emptiness Max has felt since the death of his father. Max spends his days operating the small bookshop his father left to him and Hanna joins him in the evenings to play her violin.
But over the next few years Germany is changing and hatred for the Jews is bubbling to the surface. While Max is not Jewish, Hanna is and he fears for her. Like many Jews of that life, Hanna and her family refuse to believe that the Germany that has been their home will turn on them. But Max has a secret, a secret that he believes will allow him to save Hanna when her life is endangered. There is a hidden closet in the bookshop – a closet like none other. This closet holds the secret to saving Hanna. But it must remain a secret because – well, no one would believe him if he told them.
It is now 1946 and Hanna awakens in a field, clutching her violin. She remembers being in Max’s bookshop playing her violin. She remembers the Nazi SA pounding on the door. Max grabs her and pulls her toward the closet at the rear of the store – and that is the last she remembers. She is missing the memory of the past ten years and she has no idea what happened to Max. All she knew is gone – including the bookshop and Max. She has no memory of the war. How can this be? And where is Max?
Life must go on so she relocates to live with her sister who now lives in London. She loses herself in her music; it is the only thing that can soothe the ache of losing Max.
The book moves back and forth in time alternating between the perspective of Hannah after the war always missing Max and the perspective of Max before the war always seeking to save Hanna. The love between Max and Hanna endures throughout the years – each searching for the other. The characters were so real that my heart ached for the lovers who were continually torn apart. This is an emotional haunting story of love and self-sacrifice throughout time and across continents. It’s a love that cannot be, yet cannot die. The ending was heart-wrenching and will linger with me for some time.
Thank you to GalleyMatch and Harper Perennial for a review copy of this book.
This beautiful, well written novel is a look at Berlin before, during and after WWII. I have read many WWII novels and this one looks at the effects of the war on the people of Germany from a completely different perspective. It is well researched and so well written that the words just flow off the page. Even though its a book about war – the main theme is love – love of music, love of family and friends but most importantly the love between two people.
Max meets Hanna in 1931 when he hears her playing the violin at university in Berlin and is immediately interested in her. His life has been very lonely since his father died and left him a small bookstore that is barely making ends meet. Hanna is working very hard to become a concert violinist. They fall in love but life in Germany is rapidly changing and it becomes forbidden for them to be a couple because Hanna is Jewish. Max has a secret way that he can save Hanna but is unwilling to share it because he is afraid that she will think he’s crazy. Jump ahead 10 years and Hanna wakes up in a field totally unaware of where she is or where she has been for the last 10 years. She wants to go back to the bookstore to find Max but the bookstore is gone and so is Max. As she continues to think about Max in the coming years, will her music be able to keep her memories from destroying her? Will she ever see Max again?
Be prepared when you start reading this book as it’s a very emotional journey. I loved Max and Hanna and wanted them to be together, I hated what happened to separate them and I cried with them during the good times and the bad. This is another beautiful book by Jillian Cantor and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Quite an unexpected & unforgettable story!
I have never read a split time fiction book quite like this one and had such a shocking turn of events mid-book.
A haunting and unforgettable story of love and loss, sacrifice and belonging. It kept me guessing for sure. I’m still unsure though how I feel about the shocking twist. Truly unexpected and unique but still preserving the dual timeline structure somehow. Good writing and strong characters.
A new take on the time-travel device, and the WWII setting makes it even more interesting.
Good story until it got to the time traveling plot twist. Not hard to figure out. Good characters. Good but not great.
Very well written and beautiful story
Didn’t realize it was sci-fi, not my usual genre, but I enjoyed it all the same. Well written, sympathetic characters.
DID NOT SEE THE WAY TH PLOTS WOULD RECONCILE. OH BUT THEY DID
I was very disappointed with the book! I love books on time travel, but this book was a mess! The main character had the ability to save so many Jews in the war, yet saved four! He could have given his friends the information to save one from death, but felt he didn’t have the right opportunity, he did!!! The female character ends up in the future, shortly after the war, but it is never explained how it happened! Now for the worst part, she played the violin in the death camp, but closed her eyes concentrating on the music, not the death and destruction around her!! I dislike giving a book a low rating, but do no option!!
This is a thoroughly engaging love story that has the added twist of time travel. Its two time spheres bookend Hitler’s rise to power and World War II, and the European settings are authentic and bursting with flavor. Also enjoyable is the element of Hanna’s passion for her violin and participation in world-class orchestras. This story is narrated by two pros, one playing Hanna, the other doing Max’s parts. (She does German accents; he doesn’t attempt it!) Both performances are credible, but the true gift here is the author’s fine writing and attention to all the details of prewar Berlin. Five stars all the way!