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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The adult children of a holocaust survivor learn about grief, forgiveness and the power of bearing witness from a Latina housekeeper who has also been victimized by government-sponsored genocide in a dark, subtle novel by poet Rosner. Julian and Paula Perel grew up with a somber, uncommunicative father still shell-shocked by his years in Auschwitz. Now with both parents dead, the siblings share a house in Berkeley, Calif. Julian, a recluse, lives an obsessive routine with 11 TVs in various states of disrepair to fend off the sadness that he calls his father's legacy. When Paula, an opera singer as adventurous as her brother is shy, heads to Europe to audition for opera houses and become a star, she asks her housekeeper, Sola Ordinaio, to care for her apartment and to keep an eye on Julian, whose elaborate rituals govern his life. A wary friendship blossoms between Sola and Julian, and deepens when Sola confesses that she is the only surviving witness of the Mexican government's massacre of her small village. Meanwhile, in Budapest, Paula traces the Perel family's roots and finds someone who tells her a horrible secret about Jacob Perel's time in Auschwitz. Paula feels her confidence faltering and cancels her last auditions to return to Berkeley. There, she finds Julian, with Sola's help, emerging from the emotional paralysis of his life and decides that she will not allow the tragedies of the past to silence him. The emotional impact of Rosner's material is considerable, but her schematic method of alternating the three voices of her protagonists makes the symmetries between their stories a little too neat. Still, the catharsis is moving, and the final affirmation of life, love and art to erase tragedy is uplifting. Agent, Joelle Delbourgo. 8-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Trapped by memories, bound by conscience, three characters burdened by their separate fears and individual longings intricately merge in Rosner's haunting tale of timeless secrets and timely salvation. Siblings Julian and Paula Perel are the children of a Holocaust survivor; Paula's housekeeper, Sola, is the lone survivor of a holocaust that obliterates her native village. For each, the past is as palpable as the present, crowded with images of tragedies they've witnessed and suffering they've endured. Beset by their responsibility to revere the dead, their lives are defined by survivor's guilt, and the stories they suppress are the stories they become compelled to share. As their narrations are interwoven, their roles are interchanged: the strong become weak; the weak grow strong; and the frightened become fearless. When each one speaks of unspeakable horrors, they discover the power of silence and the fragility of sound; and when they no longer despair of the survival that bestowed freedom, they find the freedom to survive. With a sumptuous voice resonating with wisdom, Rosner's lyrical debut novel is a spellbinding tribute to the revelations that redeem us and the emotions that ennoble us. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
The adult children of a holocaust survivor learn about grief, forgiveness and the power of bearing witness from a Latina housekeeper who has also been victimized by government-sponsored genocide in a dark, subtle novel by poet Rosner. Julian and Paula Perel grew up with a somber, uncommunicative father still shell-shocked by his years in Auschwitz. Now with both parents dead, the siblings share a house in Berkeley, Calif. Julian, a recluse, lives an obsessive routine with 11 TVs in various states of disrepair to fend off the sadness that he calls his father's legacy. When Paula, an opera singer as adventurous as her brother is shy, heads to Europe to audition for opera houses and become a star, she asks her housekeeper, Sola Ordinaio, to care for her apartment and to keep an eye on Julian, whose elaborate rituals govern his life. A wary friendship blossoms between Sola and Julian, and deepens when Sola confesses that she is the only surviving witness of the Mexican government's massacre of her small village. Meanwhile, in Budapest, Paula traces the Perel family's roots and finds someone who tells her a horrible secret about Jacob Perel's time in Auschwitz. Paula feels her confidence faltering and cancels her last auditions to return to Berkeley. There, she finds Julian, with Sola's help, emerging from the emotional paralysis of his life and decides that she will not allow the tragedies of the past to silence him. The emotional impact of Rosner's material is considerable, but her schematic method of alternating the three voices of her protagonists makes the symmetries between their stories a little too neat. Still, the catharsis is moving, and the final affirmation of life, love and art to erase tragedy is uplifting. Agent, Joelle Delbourgo. 8-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Trapped by memories, bound by conscience, three characters burdened by their separate fears and individual longings intricately merge in Rosner's haunting tale of timeless secrets and timely salvation. Siblings Julian and Paula Perel are the children of a Holocaust survivor; Paula's housekeeper, Sola, is the lone survivor of a holocaust that obliterates her native village. For each, the past is as palpable as the present, crowded with images of tragedies they've witnessed and suffering they've endured. Beset by their responsibility to revere the dead, their lives are defined by survivor's guilt, and the stories they suppress are the stories they become compelled to share. As their narrations are interwoven, their roles are interchanged: the strong become weak; the weak grow strong; and the frightened become fearless. When each one speaks of unspeakable horrors, they discover the power of silence and the fragility of sound; and when they no longer despair of the survival that bestowed freedom, they find the freedom to survive. With a sumptuous voice resonating with wisdom, Rosner's lyrical debut novel is a spellbinding tribute to the revelations that redeem us and the emotions that ennoble us. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
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