A well-intentioned but awkwardly executed look at lesser-known events of World War II.
Oldre’s historical novel delves into the struggles of Romani people under Nazi occupation.
In the late 1930s, a Romani family travels though the prewar Czechoslovakia, trying to make a living. Fifteen-year-old Jana Benak is used to this nomadic life, helping her stepmother Zofie take care of younger siblings, telling fortunes in town, and scavenging for supplies, but she longs for more independence and self-expression. Not long after Jana’s family arrives in Prague, they’re caught in the crosshairs of conflict: Nazi soldiers flood the country, bringing out deep-seated animosity between the local Germans and the Czech population. For the Romani, this means even more uncertainty and persecution; many men in Jana’s family are arrested, their horses are requisitioned for the German army’s needs, and a brief but chilling encounter between Jana and Adolf Hitler himself leaves no doubt about his plans: “We’ll soon be rid of her race,” he mutters to his entourage. The novel follows several characters as they attempt to resist the Nazis. Jana forms a connection with a clockmaker, Joseph Novotny, at the castle where she works; he trains her to deliver clandestine messages. Meanwhile, Jana’s friend Otto is drawn into a plot to tamper with the steel used for gun production, and his Czech friend Albert uses his family’s means to help Romani people escape the occupied territories. Overall, this historical novel has a compelling premise, tackling an underrepresented story of the Second World War. However, the aimless plot and overly large cast of characters make for a tedious read. Small incidents eventually coalesce into a larger picture, but when the climax finally arrives, it rests on a historical figure who’s otherwise peripheral to the main action. Oldre’s impressive research shines in the descriptions of Romani life and traditions. However, some of the dialogue is so slangy that it feels almost anachronistic (“Can you believe those jerks?”; “get your ass back on the job, pronto”).
A well-intentioned but awkwardly executed look at lesser-known events of World War II.Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781647424343
Page Count: 270
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
I Who Have Never Known Men ($22.00; May 1997; 224 pp.; 1-888363-43-6): In this futuristic fantasy (which is immediately reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale), the nameless narrator passes from her adolescent captivity among women who are kept in underground cages following some unspecified global catastrophe, to a life as, apparently, the last woman on earth. The material is stretched thin, but Harpman's eye for detail and command of tone (effectively translated from the French original) give powerful credibility to her portrayal of a human tabula rasa gradually acquiring a fragmentary comprehension of the phenomena of life and loving, and a moving plangency to her muted cri de coeur (``I am the sterile offspring of a race about which I know nothing, not even whether it has become extinct'').
Pub Date: May 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-888363-43-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
A touching portrait of courage and friendship.
A lifetime of friendship endures many upheavals.
Ellie and Homa, two young girls growing up in Tehran, meet at school in the early 1950s. Though their families are very different, they become close friends. After the death of Ellie’s father, she and her difficult mother must adapt to their reduced circumstances. Homa’s more warm and loving family lives a more financially constrained life, and her father, a communist, is politically active—to his own detriment and that of his family’s welfare. When Ellie’s mother remarries and she and Ellie relocate to a more exclusive part of the city, the girls become separated. They reunite years later when Homa is admitted to Ellie’s elite high school. Now a political firebrand with aspirations to become a judge and improve the rights of women in her factionalized homeland, Homa works toward scholastic success and begins practicing political activism. Ellie follows a course, plotted originally by her mother, toward marriage. The tortuous path of the girls’ adult friendship over the following decades is played out against regime change, political persecution, and devastating loss. Ellie’s well-intentioned but naïve approach stands in stark contrast to Homa’s commitment to human rights, particularly for women, and her willingness to risk personal safety to secure those rights. As narrated by Ellie, the girls’ story incorporates frequent references to Iranian food, customs, and beliefs common in the years of tumult and reforms accompanying the Iranian Revolution. Themes of jealousy—even in close friendships—and the role of the shir zan, the courageous “lion women” of Iran who effect change, recur through the narrative. The heartaches associated with emigration are explored along with issues of personal sacrifice for the sake of the greater good (no matter how remote it may seem).
A touching portrait of courage and friendship.Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781668036587
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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