annsepstein@att.net

What I’m Reading: The Boys

My Goodreads and Amazon review of The Boys: A Novel by Katie Hafner (Rating 5) – Recovery and Reentry. The Boys by Katie Hafner is a sly yet sympathetic journey into how we cope with the dual traumas of loss and isolation. Ethan Fawcett, the protagonist, is aided by the love of two good women. After his parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ethan is raised by lukewarm grandparents and grows up a socially awkward tech wizard. With traits that could easily be dismissed as “on the spectrum,” he is instead rendered by Hafner as endearing. His coworker Barb, a psychologist who studies loneliness, falls in love with his quirkiness too. She draws the introverted Ethan into a richer life, captured in their idyllic honeymoon bicycle trip through Italy, run by Hill and Dale, a service-oriented company. Back home, Barb wants to expand their family. Ethan is torn between his fear of being an inadequate parent and his desire to please her, but agrees to a “trial run” when she brings home Tommy and Sam, orphaned Russian twins. In a reversal, Ethan becomes the more nurturing parent. COVID further enables him to isolate with the boys, supervising their diet, hygiene, home schooling, and media consumption. His protectiveness is so all-consuming and restrictive that Barb feels she has no choice but to leave. Devastated, but doubling down on his devotion to the boys, Ethan decides to recapture the elation of the Italy trip by repeating it with them. He is taken underwing by his tour guide, Izzy, another woman who values his strangeness. The novel opens soon after their return, with Ethan receiving a letter from the head of Hill and Dale, politely asking him to never use their services again. What happened? And what does it mean for Ethan and his family? The surprise Hafner delivers could have been contrived but is instead deftly produced and believable. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire her talent for humanizing odd characters and persuading readers to suspend their disbelief. A contemporary comment on isolation, the novel asks timeless questions about whether we can heal from trauma and redeem ourselves, not through penitence, but through re-immersion in joy. The Boys restores hope for those we care for, those who care for us, and ultimately, for ourselves.

A contemporary novel about timeless themes

Why writers read: “A good book is an education of the heart.” – Susan Sontag

Survivor Story: Furs and Rags

“The summer I turned 13, I was sent to a labor camp. We were dressed in furs, boots, hats, and gloves — confiscated from Jewish victims — and made to run for hours. A cross-eyed SS man punished us if we stopped. In winter, we had only a thin rag dress to wear.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Nazis confiscated all their possessions when Jews arrived in camp

Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter

St. Lawrence Book Award Finalist

I’ve been named a finalist in the Black Lawrence Press 2022 St. Lawrence Book Award contest for my story collection Women, Working. See the list of finalists and semi-finalists. About the book: The fourteen stories collected in Women, Working dramatize women’s ongoing fight to balance work and family, intimacy and independence, tradition and progress. Spanning two centuries, the narratives highlight a forward march impeded by social upheaval, physical and psychological assault, and patriarchal resistance. The women — including an 1820 mill worker, a 1911 Triangle fire survivor, a Depression packhorse librarian, a chicken catcher in feminism’s early days, a contemporary trucker — are notably different, yet they share an unsinkable spirit, unflagging determination, and unwavering peer support. Read more about each piece in SHORT STORIES. The winner will be announced in the coming weeks. Wish me luck!

Why writers write: “To survive, you must tell stories.” – Umberto Eco

Learn History Through Fiction: A Cautious Hand

“We did not lift a hand to help the Jews — or perhaps it would be fairer to say that we lifted just one cautious hand, encased in a tight-fitting glove of quotas and a thick layer of prejudice” (Freda Kirchwey, Editor-in-Chief, The Nation). History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

To help Jews, U.S. lifted a hand gloved in quotas and prejudice

Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins

Survivor Story: Rails Must Roll

“We were herded onto boxcars bearing a Nazi sign “Räder müssen rollen für den Sieg” (Rails Must Roll for the Victory). Our trip, typically 10 hours, took three days because Slovenian partisans destroyed the tracks at junctions in Austria.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Survivor Story: You Must Try to Walk

“My sister was ill and weak. I told her, ‘You must try to walk, you must.’ I stood her up and put one foot in front of the other, twice a day, until she was able to walk on her own again. To this day, she swears that without me, she wouldn’t have survived.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

To survive, these women had to appear strong

What I’m Reading: Have You Eaten Rice Today?

My Goodreads and Amazon review of Have You Eaten Rice Today? by Apple Gidley (Rating 5) – Complex and Captivating. Apple Gidley’s novel, Have You Eaten Rice Today?, weaves history, adventure, and romance into one captivating tale. Underlying the drama is a lesson in Malaysia’s fight for independence, a bloody struggle that most westerners know little about. Readers are immersed in the enervating heat and ever-present buzz of the ulu, the jungle, then dropped into the cool elegance of Britain’s colonial outposts. It is at one of these establishments that Simon, a former British soldier and now cool intelligence gatherer, meets Dee, a young and feisty Australian nurse, igniting a spark that decades and oceans apart cannot cool. Two generations later we meet Max, Simon’s adoring grandson, an aspiring writer, and Jessica, Dee’s granddaughter, an emergency room physician and her grandmother’s temperamental match. What happens next (no spoilers) is a physically and emotionally challenging journey as inevitable as the promise of redemption. A writer of historical fiction myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Gidley’s ability to blend fact and invention in just the right proportions. Have You Eaten Rice Today? transports readers to another time and place. Required carry-on: Minds and hearts.

Why writers read: “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” – C. S. Lewis

Learn History Through Fiction: Bomb Auschwitz?

U.S. leaders, including FDR, dismissed a proposal to bomb Auschwitz. They said the Germans would just rebuild the concentration camp elsewhere. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

FDR said if America bombed Auschwitz, Germany would rebuild the camp elsewhere

Survivor Story: Life-Saving Trade

“When asked our line of work, I answered carpenter; my father replied bricklayer. Carpenters were transferred to another camp. My father told me, ‘Though I must stay here, you have an obligation to go and save yourself.’ I never saw him again.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Jewish carpenters forced to build a Nazi work camp

Survivor Story: Hot Milk

“Throughout October 1941, we received instructions each time a street in the ghetto would be evacuated to the work camps. To avoid deportation, we moved to other streets, but knew our turn would come soon. The night before, Mom bought two liters of milk and boiled them in a large pot. In the camps later, suffering from starvation, the memory of hot milk accompanied us with longing.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.