25 & Trying

Day After Night

An Amazing Book by an amazing writer

Lately, I have become more and more interested in novels that are based in historical fact – specifically about World War Two. My previous review of The Zookeepers Wife reflects that choice, and so does my next book Day After Night by one of my favorite authors, Anita Diamant.

The writer is most famous for her book The Red Tent which was published in 2001. I read it while I was on a flight, and finished the entire thing in one sitting. For some reason, I had forgotten about her work until I decided to get married. I promptly picked up The New Jewish Wedding because my rabbi recommended it, and found her again.

This particular book is one of the most intricately woven and interesting tales I have read. It chronicles the lives of young women that have survived the Holocaust and find themselves perpetually waiting for freedom in a holding camp in Palestine. The girls have all survived a different way and are all combating the vicious memories that surround them.

One was a partisan fighter, one became a prostitute for the Germans, one simply waited it out in a concentration camp, and one survived because of her distant Christian descent. Each girl has different demons, and each girl portrays the frustrating feelings of being held captive once again, after fighting long and hard for freedom.

I always find it amazing when people can write novels about the Holocaust that weren’t actually in the Holocaust. I could never as a writer attempt this feat. She portrays the women as strong despite all odds, but with the normal conflicting emotions that I could see being very real at the time. The research is impeccable as to dates, conflicts, and political sentiment. I especially liked the character Tirzah (my middle name!) whose presence serves as a reminder that Jews sometimes had a very hard time understanding other survivor Jews.

The book takes them through the many weeks of waiting, and the new relationships that form. They are faced with much conflict, including the fact that one of the women sent to the Atlit camp is a former SS officer. The conflicts the author creates are intriguing. What would we do in that circumstance? Would we let the woman remain in our midst?

I hope that people discover Diamant in the same enthusiastic way that I did. Her work is a testament to the passion that she has for characters, subjects, and the people that she writes for.