I finish reading now with a heavy heart. I had seen the movie before, and knew what was coming, but that doesn't stop the sadness.

I'm glad I was exposed to this story in that order, film then book. The movie was a wonderful testament to the love and pain they shared, and then the book adds more nuance and establishes their story in the greater narrative of the war really well. The movie ends when Felice is taken, and yet for me the part of their story that pulled on me the most was the desperate and terrifying time in which they were in contact after Felice had been taken, which the book chronicles really well.

I think many others have commented on how Lilly is portrayed, and I have thoughts on this as well. It does feel at times that she wasnt receptive to what Felice was going through, and the comments from others show this too (her initial lack of understanding of what was happening, others commenting that her persistence may have called unnecessary attention to Felice in the camps, or after the war, that "she imposed herself" on the Jewish community in her wishes to join). I don't know what we really can say or have the right to say, as readers. This book contains some of their most intimate writings, and yet we must acknowledge that we cannot possibly know how it really was at the time. There are definitely some things that bothered me about Lilly, but I think all I feel comfortable saying is that it is clear she loved Felice deeply and imperfectly, and sometimes that is all a human can do.