Mr Rosenblum's List: or Friendly Guidance for the Aspiring Englishman

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have lived in Dorset for a good number of years and know the landscape well. Before that, I lived in Berlin during the latter years of the Cold War so it evoked memories of the time that I lived there. The Zoological Gardens in Berlin were a place of refuge for me when I lived in Berlin and the Dorset countryside provides a similar feeling for me now as the green spaces in Berlin did for me all those years ago. I had a great sense of empathy with Jack and Sadie as they settled into life in England. Living in a foreign country can be a challenging and stressful experience, especially if your heart (as Sadie’s was) is still in one’s homeland. Jack was determined to become truly English. Sadie took longer to settle. Such a difference could have torn them apart but together they overcame them in the face of disappointment after disappointment. The locals took Jack, Sadie and their daughter Elizabeth to their hearts and as well as the love story between them, the story is also one of love shown by a post war community to a family whose life had taken an unexpected turn which had never been of their making.