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Having just finished Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations by Diane Armstrong I would love to tell you that this is all fiction and did not happen. But that would be a lie. I would love to tell you that Diane Armstrong fabricated the entire story and exaggerated the horrible and despicable happenings in this book but I would be lying. This story is recounts the lives of five generations of an ordinary Jewish family and what they suffered at the hands of their fellow neighbours and countrymen during a time in our history that can never be forgotten or one can never read enough about.

I have read many Holocaust memoirs & oral histories, but none have moved me as Diane Armstrong's book Mosaic has. Having visited many of the places mentioned in this book like Krakow and Auschwitz I really felt I was walking there with Diane when she travelled back to research her family history.

Although readers looking for strictly documented history may find Mosaic wanting, Diane Armstrong's story is likely to exceed your expectations and inform readers of a more personal story that will give you an honest account what an entire family can endure and how many years later the effects such happenings and losses still have on their lives. I love to lean facts and prefer documented history but with this book I feel I learned so much.

What makes a book a 5 star reading experience? For me its has to have three elements.

1) I need to learn something new or be entertained by the story.
2) I need to laugh out loud or exclaim or feel emotion.
3) The writing needs to be of a good standard that I feel the story flows.

This books has all of these qualities and I would highly recommend it.

I was lucky enough to be given a hardback copy of this book as a gift and also to have it as and audio book. I enjoyed so much the audible as the pronunciation of family names and cites were just pure music to my ears! The narrator was excellent and for the second time only in my audible listening experience have I have been truly happy with listening to a book on audible. I also loved reading from the book and both were an experience.