After Silence by Jessica Gregson - #BookReview

 

Katya woke from nothing with her mouth closed on a gasp. This sudden coming back to herself, from something that wasn't sleep: there were no words for it, uncoiling her body, finding it already moving without her will. She saw her hand first, its five fingers as alien as an undersea creature, unrecognisable, pressed against flesh, red with blood. The feel of it, slick and hot, its unmistakable soft-firmness. Then her hearing, returning with a flood, and her own voice, mid-sentence: "...it's all right, it's all right."

A hand landed on her shoulder and Katya turned. She didn't know the face, but somehow associated it with wooden boards, open trucks and glances not met, a collection of independent impressions, clattering together like the shifting of stones, trodden on. The face spoke: "They're coming back."

***

Leningrad, 1941. German forces surround the city at the start of the most harrowing winter in its history. The siege becomes a battle for survival. Bodies fill the streets, and the crushing horror of cold, starvation and bone-deep fear is relentless.

Set against this background of tragedy and suffering, a remarkable group of musicians - soldiers and civilians, all of whom have been wasted by war and hunger - come together to perform Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony. They scarcely have the strength to carry their instruments, but their performance of this haunting and defiant new piece provides a rare light of hope in the darkness. Friendship, love and a vibrant passion for music combine in this ambitious, absorbing and richly sensuous masterpiece.

***

This is a wonderful novel which is strong in character, atmosphere and place.

Set in Leningrad during the siege of World War II the author uses this period and place to describe the bleak and horrific conditions in which the characters had to live and survive. I have rarely read a book whereby the author is able to create such an authentically bleak atmosphere in which to plant her characters, whilst simultaneously portraying hope, love and friendship.

Central to the story is the creation of an orchestra set amongst the ruins of the city. Weakened from little food, the characters who are central to the narrative, enlist for this orchestra largely for the extra rations they will be provided with. However, we soon learn that it is about so much more than that. Music is the lifeblood of these people and is central to the story.

The characters are exquisitely portrayed, and the author recognised exactly the right point in to which to insert the back story of the main characters without interrupting the narrative. This perfectly seamless movement through time added hugely to the novel and provided the reader with a better understanding of the characters.

I do not think that I will be able to forget Katya and Dima in a hurry. They represent all that good fictional characters should be and I highly recommend this book. Readers who enjoy historical fiction or music will enjoy this book.

ISBN: 978 1838498764

Publisher: Deixis Press

Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback

No of Pages: 474 (paperback)

About the Author:

Jessica was born in London in 1978. She is now a humanitarian education specialist and a writer, with occasional forays into other careers. Her first novel, The Angel Makers, was published in 2007 and has since sold to nine international markets. Her second novel, The Ice Cream Army, was published in 2009. She has lived and worked in a variety of places, including South Sudan, Myanmar and Azerbaijan, and currently divides her time between Glasgow and everywhere else.

(ARC provided courtesy of the publisher)

The Violinist of Auschwitz by Jean-Jacques Felstein - #BookReview

 

Cologne, summer 1958

The sky is grey, streaked with mustard yellow. It's the colour of my nightmares. It is a nightmare. There are thousands of us huddled, naked and crowded against each other on an esplanade with no limits. Although out in the open air, a continuous wail among thousands of cries seems to be reflected by the polished wall of a huge bathroom...

***

Arrested in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz, Elsa survived because she had the 'opportunity' to join the women's orchestra. But Elsa kept her story a secret, even from her own family. Indeed, her son would only discover what had happened to his mother many years later, after gradually unearthing her unbelievable story following her premature death, without ever having revealed her secret to anyone.

Jean-Jacques Felstein was determined to reconstruct Elsa's life in Birkenau, and would go in search of other orchestra survivors in Germany, Belgium, Poland, Israel and the United States. The recollections of Hélène, first violin, Violette, third violin, Anita, a cellist, and other musicians, allowed him to rediscover his 20-year-old mother, lost in the heart of hell.

The story unfolds in two intersecting stages: one, contemporary, is that of the investigation, the other is that of Auschwitz and its unimaginable daily life, as told by the musicians. They describe the recitals on which their very survival depended, the incessant rehearsals, the departure in the mornings for the forced labourers to the rhythm of the instruments, the Sunday concerts, and how Mengele pointed out the pieces in the repertoire he wished to listen to in between 'selections'.

In this remarkable book, Jean-Jacques Felstein follows in his mother's footsteps and by telling her story, attempts to free her, and himself, from the pain that had been hidden in their family for so long.

***

Those of you who have been following my blog prior to today will know that I do not rate or review non-fiction accounts of the Holocaust. As a reviewer, I am unwilling to compare the accounts of survivors testaments. Who am I to judge one account against another and what on earth would be the criteria?

Instead, I prefer to spotlight a book; to bring it to your attention rather than judge it in any way.

As there are now fewer and fewer survivors alive to give their account, it is unsurprising attention is now shifting to the children of those who have now passed away. This is one such example and has been written by the son of a woman who survived because she was part of an orchestra in the concentration camps.

Elsa found relationships difficult and was emotionally detached from her son. Following her death, he decided to track down others who were in the same situation, those who survived by being part of this bizarre orchestra and who remember his mother. (although not all do.)

Through this, he is able to build a picture of his mother. To construct her narrative that was always hidden from him during her lifetime and to find a way to lead to his understanding of her.

This is a book that is well worth reading and I would be extremely interested to hear your thoughts.

ISBN: 978 1399002813

Publisher: Pen & Sword

About the Author: 

Jean-Jacques Felstein was born in 1948 and began his studies at Nanterre in 1968. He achieved a diploma in specialist education in 1976, followed by a degree in English and a diploma in languages and communication sciences. He worked in education for twenty-three years, before becoming the department head in a child protection unit at the Seine-Saint-Denis General Council. Here he acquired expert knowledge on concepts such as heritage, parentage, abuse, and incest. During these years, he practised music and played guitar in a hard rock group, performing in numerous concerts. He died in Paris in 2015, following a long illness.

(book received courtesy of Net Galley)