By
– October 27, 2011
This is an unusual novel about a Jewish family living in Hamburg, Germany after World War II. The tightly knit Schiefer clan includes a Jewish mother, Christian father, two daughters, and the Jewish grandmother who lives with them. The mother dropped out of the Jewish community in order to stay with her husband, Paul. The mother and grandmother claim that their survival is due to Paul’s kindness and he is revered by the family and friends. This family is very loving and physical and wary of others to the point of being a world unto itself. The story is told through the voice of 13- year-old Fania, who wants to know about life during the war and complains that her mother deprives her of a Jewish identity. It is sometimes difficult to follow Fania’s dramatic voice; her thoughts run together when she obsesses about ideas and is fearful. Fania and her sister, Vera, grow up overly protected by their parents in response to their trauma from the war. Although Fania loves her older sister, she disapproves of her adult behavior. Fania is a poor student but is determined to prove herself and succeed. While Paul works away from home from Monday through Friday as a traveling spectacles salesman, the women keep house and scheme plans for their future. The translation is spotty at times but I learned a lot about attitudes in post-war Germany.
Miriam Bradman Abrahams, mom, grandmom, avid reader, sometime writer, born in Havana, raised in Brooklyn, residing in Long Beach on Long Island. Longtime former One Region One Book chair and JBC liaison for Nassau Hadassah, currently presenting Incident at San Miguel with author AJ Sidransky who wrote the historical fiction based on her Cuban Jewish refugee family’s experiences during the revolution. Fluent in Spanish and Hebrew, certified hatha yoga instructor.
