Escape to Live

ESCAPE TO LIVE is the story of a wealthy Jewish family in pre-war Germany. They and their offspring, and relatives lose everything, scattering to the four winds, and then find each other again. As Reviewed by New York Times best selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh: Does love conquer all? Can it bloom even in chaos? In Escape to Live, Sol Berg’s luminous debut, love not only survives, but shines its brightest when the world around it lies in terrible darkness. Berg introduces us to two extraordinary characters, Marcus and Gretchen, living in Germany in the 1930s. They’re happy, successful and in love, but the shadow of Nazi fascism is fast approaching. Before too long Hitler’s Gestapo is harassing them, and although they make plans to escape with Marcus’s mother, Elena, war quickly engulfs them and they are forced to go their separate ways. In lucid, brilliant prose, Berg lets us follow the poignant journey of each member of this incredible trio. Marcus masquerades as an officer in the German army only to ultimately find himself taken prisoner in the Russian campaign. Gretchen struggles with her baby son in England, desperate for news of her lover. Elena survives a concentration camp, finally escaping to work in a German bakery. In Berg’s capable hands, life—and love—stumble on. Both Marcus and Gretchen remarry, but they never forget one another, while Marcus never stops searching for his mother. Heartbreakingly, in a rare twist of fate, Gretchen and Marcus reencounter one another, only to have tragedy once again enter their lives. This is an evocative and deeply moving novel. From the early days of Nazi Germany to the struggles on the Golan Heights, Berg gives us both a historic, resilient portrait of the Jews and a moving testament to the power of love.