Pam Jenoff Books

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Pam Jenoff is a historian, a teacher, and a bestselling author that writes novels set in the Second World War.

Pam’s life has informed and inspired her creative process as a writer. Born in Maryland, Pam’s resume includes stints spent at Cherokee High School and George Washington University. She also attended Cambridge University in the United Kingdom where she acquired her Master’s in history.

Despite everything she did beforehand, Pam’s life did not truly take off until she became the Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position was life-changing for Pam Jenoff because it gave her a glimpse at the operations of government at the highest level.

She watched as the people around her reacted to emergencies and disasters and took steps to honor the victims of events like the Oklahoma City Bombing.

The author’s government employment lasted several years and saw her work everywhere from the Pentagon to the State Department. One of her postings even saw her move to Poland where her work with the consulate allowed her to gain valuable insight into the relationship between Polish and Jewish populations.

Pam met and formed bonds with many Holocaust survivors and that gave her a new appreciation for the horrors they had suffered. By this time, the author had already begun contemplating the idea of writing fiction.

The people she met and the stories they told her sparked a storm of creativity in Pam’s mind. She knew she had what it took to take the words of the people in her past and her present and turn them into engaging fictional stories.

But Pam never took that crucial step of actually sitting down to write. Even after she left Poland, Pam decided to attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Her life would have continued as normal if the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center hadn’t happened.

Pam was already practicing law at the time. As she watched the aftermath of the attack, Pam realized that if she had been in the towers at the time of the attack, she would have died without having ever realized her dream of writing novels.

The author did not allow that particular wake up call to go to waste. She immediately enrolled for a writing course at a University and got down to producing fiction. As a child, Pam Jenoff read everything from fantasy to comedy.

As an adult, she found that she was drawn to historical fiction. And once she finally acquired the skills necessary to produce fiction, she decided to put everything she had learned about the Second World War to good use.

The author writes stories that explore the way normal people change when they are exposed to extraordinary situations.

Pam Jenoff Awards

The Kommandant’s Girl was Pam Jenoff’s first novel. Published in 2007, the book earned Pam a Quill Award Nomination.

Best Pam Jenoff Books

The success of Pam Jenoff’s writing career can be imputed to her ability to produce grounded fiction that tugs at the heartstrings by exploring the lives of broken people who must find the strength to save themselves from extraordinary circumstances, with some of the best novels in the author’s bibliography including:

The Kommandant’s Girl: Emma Bau was 19 when the Nazis came. Their tanks rolled into Poland three weeks after her wedding and changed her life. She lost Jacob, her husband, who had to disappear underground.

Trapped in a miserable Jewish community in what essentially became a prison city, all seemed lost for Emma. But then she was smuggled out of the ghetto and taken to her husband’s aunt in Krakow.

Emma would love to fly under the radar from that point onward. But then a high ranking Nazi official takes note of her and employs her as his assistant. The resistance wants Emma to use her position to help them undermine the Nazis. But Emma’s burgeoning relationship with the official in question is complicating matters.

The Orphan’s Tale: Noa had to give up her baby when it was discovered that the father was a Nazi Soldier. Now sixteen, Noa has been cast out because of the disgrace she has brought onto their community.

Noa’s decision to give up her baby comes back to haunt her when she discovers a boxcar filled with Jewish infants waiting to be taken to the concentration camp. The guilt drives her to take one of the infants and flee into the night.

To survive, Noa must carve out a new life with a German Circus.

When Does The Next Pam Jenoff book come out?

The next book by Pam Jenoff is Last Twilight in Paris and will be released on February, 4th 2025.

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