VILNIUS

In Austin’s historical novel, the lives of three unrelated families intersect in unexpected ways in World War II–era Vilnius.

Between 1939 and 1944, the city of Vilnius underwent four violent regime changes—it was transferred from Poland to Lithuania, invaded by the Soviet army, occupied by Nazi Germany, and finally swallowed up by the USSR. Paulina Kataski, a devout Polish Catholic, is the cook for the wealthy, aristocratic, and proudly Lithuanian Eimontas family. The Bernstein family is Jewish: Abraham and Sarah run a successful fur business with their son, Daniel; his younger siblings, Jacob and Rachel, are students. The Kataski , Eimontas, and Bernstein families face myriad challenges as the communists and then the Nazis take control, and every family member responds to the mounting crises in their own way. Paulina’s oldest children, Stefan and Valeria, embrace German culture; her husband, Casimir, and son, Pranas, join the communists; and another son, Jan, studies for the priesthood. Baron Eimontas joins the Lithuanian government, risking arrest when the Red Army takes over. His son, Antanas, masterfully manipulates one new mayor after another to maintain his position at city hall. Fleeing to the countryside, Katerina Eimontas reignites an old flame, while her spoiled daughter, Astrid, is brutally attacked. The Bernstein family is divided as Jacob and Rachel become fervent communists—all become victims of Nazi repression. Switching rapidly among the numerous characters, the story moves from one dramatic—sometimes melodramatic—incident to the next. Some key events are unexpected twists, while others too easily predictable. The writing is pedestrian, often relying on expository dialogue (“We should not be ashamed of Lithuanian superiority. Vytautas the Great extended the borders of Lithuania from the Baltic to the Black Sea, making it the largest country in Europe in the fifteenth century,” one character casually mentions at a dinner party). The lurid plot includes rape, suicide, torture, murder, and betrayal. Several characters are described with irritating lookism; for example, Daniel Bernstein is said to be condemned to a life of shame because of a harelip, and Stefan’s wife, Monica, loses his interest by gaining weight.

A historical saga chock-full of dramatic events, but lacking in literary merit.