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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Raphael applies his talents as a suspense writer (he is the author of five mystery novels in addition to the short story collection Dancing on Tisha B'Av) to this unconventional Holocaust novel, a family drama about the upheaval caused by a million-dollar legacy of German reparations money. The passive, introspective narrator, Paul Menkus, is a 42-year-old Michigan librarian who travels home to Manhattan after a heart attack claims his mother, Rose, a Holocaust survivor. He's the sole heir of her reparations-based fortune, which brings him into conflict with his younger siblings, underachieving, bisexual Simon and beautiful but difficult Dina, whose marriage is failing. Rose was in good health when she died, and Paul's inquiries into her death provide an element of suspense. The family interactions range from turgid to poignant, but overall Raphael successfully captures the family dynamic. He also adds narrative momentum with a romantic subplot (Paul reunites with old flame Valerie, a Holocaust memoirist who stayed close to the family after the couple's postcollege breakup). But Paul's mother remains an underdeveloped, shadowy figure, and the specifics of her Holocaust experiences are only sketchily outlined in the closing chapters. The climax, which hinges on a revelation delivered by a seemingly sweet elderly neighbor who played a pivotal role in Rose's demise, is rushed and farfetched. [...]
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Paul, the son of Holocaust survivors, painfully admires and resents his icy, critical mother, who has refused to describe her experiences during the war, and when she dies, mother and son have had almost no contact for a decade. So Paul is surprised, and his younger siblings are shocked, when they learn she has left Paul "the German money," reparations paid her years ago. Returning to Manhattan with his brother and sister, Paul tries to discover why he was bequeathed what is now more than a million dollars and, more important, why the details of her death mysteriously conflict. Revisiting old haunts stirs memories of the girlfriend, still single, whom he fled because of her identification with the survivor community. He looks her up, and the reconnection encourages him to face his doubts and fears. A heartfelt departure from Raphael's brittle, clever mysteries (Let's Get Criminal, 1996, et seq.). Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
Raphael applies his talents as a suspense writer (he is the author of five mystery novels in addition to the short story collection Dancing on Tisha B'Av) to this unconventional Holocaust novel, a family drama about the upheaval caused by a million-dollar legacy of German reparations money. The passive, introspective narrator, Paul Menkus, is a 42-year-old Michigan librarian who travels home to Manhattan after a heart attack claims his mother, Rose, a Holocaust survivor. He's the sole heir of her reparations-based fortune, which brings him into conflict with his younger siblings, underachieving, bisexual Simon and beautiful but difficult Dina, whose marriage is failing. Rose was in good health when she died, and Paul's inquiries into her death provide an element of suspense. The family interactions range from turgid to poignant, but overall Raphael successfully captures the family dynamic. He also adds narrative momentum with a romantic subplot (Paul reunites with old flame Valerie, a Holocaust memoirist who stayed close to the family after the couple's postcollege breakup). But Paul's mother remains an underdeveloped, shadowy figure, and the specifics of her Holocaust experiences are only sketchily outlined in the closing chapters. The climax, which hinges on a revelation delivered by a seemingly sweet elderly neighbor who played a pivotal role in Rose's demise, is rushed and farfetched. [...]
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Paul, the son of Holocaust survivors, painfully admires and resents his icy, critical mother, who has refused to describe her experiences during the war, and when she dies, mother and son have had almost no contact for a decade. So Paul is surprised, and his younger siblings are shocked, when they learn she has left Paul "the German money," reparations paid her years ago. Returning to Manhattan with his brother and sister, Paul tries to discover why he was bequeathed what is now more than a million dollars and, more important, why the details of her death mysteriously conflict. Revisiting old haunts stirs memories of the girlfriend, still single, whom he fled because of her identification with the survivor community. He looks her up, and the reconnection encourages him to face his doubts and fears. A heartfelt departure from Raphael's brittle, clever mysteries (Let's Get Criminal, 1996, et seq.). Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
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