The Kommandant's Mistress: A Novel [Hardcover]

Sherri Szeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1993

The relationship between the Kommandant of a Nazi concentration camp and the Jewish woman inmate who becomes his mistress, is captured from the perspectives of both protagonists, as well as from the objective view of official documents. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This powerful and provocative first novel charts one woman's harrowing experience in a Nazi concentration camp. Rachel Sarah Levi, a Czech novelist and poet, is transported with her family, first to the Warsaw Ghetto and then to a death camp run by Maximilian von Walther, an alcoholic sadist. Her parents are gassed at once; Rachel, however, is confined to the kommandant's office, where she is forced to fulfill his sexual demands despite his wife's jealous rages. The grim tale is related from the opposing perspectives of von Walther, who sees himself as a family man and idealistic patriot, and Rachel, whose terse commentary exposes him as a misogynist and cold-blooded mass murderer. In the conclusion, two brief, quasi-official biographical profiles add more layers of possibility to an already complex story. Flashbacks and flash-forwards in both narratives provide glimpses of von Walther's meetings with top Nazis, of Rachel's nightmare-plagued life after the war and of a final, violent confrontation between the two protagonists. Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique make this a chilling study of evil, erotic obsession and the will to survive.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This harrowing novel relates another side of the Holocaust, centering on the relationship between Max, the Kommandant of a concentration camp, and Rachel, who survives the atrocities in the camp as Max's whore. Both characters narrate their own personal histories as well as their radically different impressions of events. The narrative jumps quickly from time and place, isolating many contrasting experiences from the grim, recurrent murders of the Jews to the heedless insensitivity of the Nazis. The perpetuation of Germany's hatred of Jews is vividly presented in scenes with Max's children. The hasty style of switching from one event to another, though, seems too haphazard for either character to become fully realized. The novel concludes with an impersonal biographical sketch of both characters that casts ambiguity rather than clarity on the narratives. This is, however, an important contribution to collections on the Holocaust.
- David A. Beron a, Westbrook Coll. Lib., Portland, Me.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (July 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060170115
• ISBN-13: 978-0060170110
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,781,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Name changed to ALEXANDRIA CONSTANTINOVA SZEMAN. (Formerly writing as "Sherri" because 1st Editor said name "wouldn't fit on cover of book", and subsequent editor/agent didn't want to "lose name recognition" of first book). Author of critically acclaimed and award-winning books: THE KOMMANDANT'S MISTRESS (a novel), Winner of the University of Rochester's Kafka Prize 1994 for "best book of prose fiction by an American woman" and chosen as one of THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW's "Top 100 Books of 1993". ONLY WITH THE HEART (a novel), on Recommended Reading Lists of Alzheimer's Chapters nationwide. MASTERING POINT OF VIEW (nonfiction on novel-writing). Two critically acclaimed & award winning poetry collections, each of which contains some poems from Ph.D. dissertation of original poetry, SURVIVOR: ONE WHO SURVIVES (1986). Poetry books coming soon: LOVE IN THE TIME OF DINOSAURS (UKA Press 2012) and WHERE LIGHTNING STRIKES: POEMS OF THE HOLOCAUST (UKA Press 2012). An award winning collection of short stories, NAKED WITH GLASSES (Grand Prize Winner 2007, UKA Press International Writing Competition, UKA Press 2012), etc. First three books being re-iussed under Alexandria Constantinova Szeman (formerly writing as "Sherri"): THE KOMMANDANT'S MISTRESS, REVISED & EXPANDED, 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2012), a novel, with discussion questions and original source material, including preface by author, coming as e-book & Trade paper. ONLY WITH THE HEART, REVISED & EXPANDED EDITION (2012), a novel, including discussion questions for book groups, teachers, & students; coming as e-book & Trade paper. MASTERING POINT OF VIEW & OTHER CREATIVE WRITING ELEMENTS, IN ALL GENRES; REVISED & EXPANDED, 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2012): will now cover all aspects of creative writing and all genres; coming as e-book & Trade paper. Additional creative writing exercise books coming as e-books in 2012. Follow Alexandria (f.k.a., "Sherri"), her books, and her characters on Twitter. URLs of Book groups & discussion questions for novels on website. New, original creative writing exercises daily - from forthcoming REVISED & EXPANDED MASTERING POINT OF VIEW & OTHER CREATIVE WRITING ELEMENTS: IN ALL GENRES, other forthcoming writing books - on Twitter @POV_CW.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and mesmerizing, April 8, 2002

By 

Mike (MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kommandant's Mistress (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I have read. Its structure is remarkable. Think of James Joyce and his stream of consciencousness style but in complete sentences and easy to understand. We get the interior monologues of the major characters as though they are remembering the past, jumping from memory to memory.

The book is a powerful depiction of an unreal time. The marvel of this book is that the Kommandant is not portrayed as all bad and the Mistress is not all victim or all good.

Cool language is the medium for the most distrubing events. It is the substance of what is being said that carries the power, not the use or overuse of bombastic verbage that so often writers use to show us how great their talent is. This book says more with less.

In the end it is the most haunting of books.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing read...., July 12, 2000

By 

Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kommandant's Mistress: A Novel (Hardcover)

The star rating for this book was difficult to decide on - I'd wanted to move it up to 3 1/2 stars, maybe 4 -- but the rating would have to be conditional. This book is not for everyone - the topic and the writing style are both disturbing, probably not by chance.

Sherri Szeman was my creative writing teacher some years ago - she was an excellent teacher, a demanding critic, sending things back for re-writes, as I creaked my way back from years of non-writing. I picked up a galley edition of her newest book (currently titled "Only With the Heart") at a recent bookseller's convention, and though I'm three-quarters of the way through, found it so frustrating that I decided to read her first novel, "The Kommandant's Mistress," which had gotten rave reviews.

Although the style used in both books is virtually identical - shifting without warning several times in each chapter from different time periods in the character's life (very difficult to get used to), I found that unusual style worked in this book much better than it does in her new book.

Why? It may be because this book reflects an extremely disturbing time, when the minds of a nation were (to put it mildly) confused, mired in the darkness of Adolph Hitler's leadership.

The first part of this book is written from the perspective of the Kommandant, the second from that of the mistress, who of course is not a traditional mistress by choice or definition. The last section offers two short bios of the characters which leave many questions open.

Someone called this a poorly disguised Harlequin -I would have to say, NOT! Harlequins are formula novels, light and fluffy. If you prefer your novels to have a plot neatly laid out, with a satisfying conclusion, do NOT read this book - you will be disappointed!

If you enjoy a creative writing style, and an in depth look into the lives of two ordinary (not normal) people in an exceptionally evil time, you will probably enjoy this book. The lead characters are full and complex, the story is gripping. Szeman has researched the events of the time and uses quotes from historical figures (she provides a long list of books in her Author's Notes for anyone who wants to read more about that time.

For those who have an interest in the Holocaust, this book should be on the 'must read' list.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Kommandant's Mistress, September 8, 2000

By 

Diana Kinared (Tucson, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kommandant's Mistress (Paperback)

WOW! This is an amazing book. It takes a few pages to get into Sherri Szeman's style. It is stream-of-consciousness interior monologue from the point of view of the Kommandant first and later his mistress. An amazing psychological profile of a "good" man doing his job as a Nazi in WWII. Then, in contrast, the same situation is viewed by one of his victims with whom he is obsessed. It takes your breath away. Her writing style is provocative and you just don't want to put the novel down until you find out what happens to these two people. You can tell Ms Szeman has done some research for this book either in interviews or reading or both because she gets inside the soul of the two characters. I recommend this book for anyone who likes a book that stays with them forever. It is deeply moving. You will never forget the Kommandant nor his Mistress.