Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. A slow burner of a book but ded worth sticking with. I enjoy reading historical fiction and this book didn't disappoint

Yoel Blum is a Jewish writer, born in Amsterdam before WW2. However, he identifies as an Israeli since his mother Sonia, relocated them there when he was two years old. She also made him promise to never visit Amsterdam. His publisher persuades him to take a trip to Amsterdam for a book tour and afterwards Blum seems strangely drawn back to the city as he writes a work that becomes a memoir.
The author takes us simultaneously to modern day Amsterdam and the sights and sounds of the city, and to WW2 when it became a place of fear and secrecy. We learn about Dutch Jews who had to go into hiding to avoid the death camps and those who were disappeared, never to be seen again.

This is a very introspective novel. We feel how it is to be Yoel discovering his past in Holland while also having family ties in Israel. Then we are spirited back to be in the head of his mother and her compulsion to save a child. Even though he is a writer, Yoel does not seem to have delved into his mother’s edict that he shouldn’t return to his birthplace. I was surprised by this because I write and I am curious about stories. He also accepts how little he knows of who he is. This is a story of a self-awakening later in life. In the course of finding out the truth about himself, he also learns to love and forms new relationships, not just with new acquaintances, but with people he’s met, but never really known.

I like the way the structure of the story is as messy and random as our thought processes usually are. Often in novels like this the story moves neatly back and forth with alternate chapters taking us from character to character and past to present. Here the structure is more of a jigsaw puzzle, where the story emerges in fits and starts, piece by piece. Yoel finds bits of his past in a muddled order, each piece of the jigsaw catapults us back to WW2. In the space of a few pages we might have traversed the years many times from a paragraph on his discovery, to his current thoughts, to his mother’s feelings back in time. We all know how we can be going about our day, when a sudden smell or piece of music on the radio plunges back through time to our teenage years or a school disco.

The author has very successfully captured this sense of fragmented identity, intensified by Yoel not knowing about his first two years. How can he have constructed a positive sense of who he is, when part of his past was taken away from him - even though it was so he could have a future. I thought this might link to the title? We might think of identity as something fixed, that never changes, but that’s not a true reflection of who we are. Our identity constantly changes and for Yoel that has always meant a sense of disconnectedness, fracture and fragmentation. Once he has all of his history, his sense of self is an ever flowing river - still constantly changing, but connected, ever flowing and with a definite starting point. Beautifully written.

The story centers on an Israeli man who discovers that he been Mia-told his family history by his mother, so he returns to Amsterdam to try and discover the truth. His past is recreated (through imaginative musings of how his family had lived, recreating an imagined past.)
Yoel is an author, and is writing a memoir/work of fiction, and the book flits easily for the realities to perceived experiences in the past. The book flows from the day-to-day, to the scenes of Amsterdam in the past as the Jews slowly begin to experience the change in society that unfolded as WWII unfolded.

The retelling is evocative and gentle, a beautiful and realistic paining of the past, and discovery of its secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

When I started reading this book I wasn't sure how I would feel about reading a novel about WW2 and Jewish Amsterdam. I always prefer to have these sort of books based on fact. I was however not disappointed as the book was so well written and it was very unusual.
The author tells the story of a writer visiting Amsterdam in the present day but as the book opens up, the author manages to morph the characters seamlessly across the two time periods. It was an unexpected book, that did not distract from events of the time. I really wanted to read it to the end and my feeling then was one of admiration for the author in managing such an unusual book, yet keeping true to history.

A good book wth a good premise, and particularly apt descriptions of Amsterdam. It took me a while to finish, found it a little slow at times, but overall it was pretty good!

House on Endless Waters ticked all of my boxes - Amsterdam, history and an engaging story.

Emuna Elon manages to weave together the story of modern day Yoel and that of his family living in Nazi occupied Amsterdam. As a frequent visitor to the city I was able to imagine the characters moving around the canals, streets and parks as they experienced the erosion of their rights and liberties. This contrasted to the descriptions of Yoel in Starbucks and weaving between the tourists, bicycles and landmarks.

The novel has a great pace which always left me wanting to read on to another chapter, and I particularly enjoyed the development of Yoel's emotional capacity as he dived deeper into his personal history and how he relates to his modern family.

A beautiful translation. I will be seeking out more of Emuma Elon's work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review