THE GENIZAH

A novelist speculates about what would have happened if his Jewish family had stayed in Poland in the 1930s.

A Genizah is a place where worn-out religious books are kept until they get a proper burial; when death is everywhere and proper burial is no longer possible, Karlin suggests, everyone starts to live in a Genizah, an in-between space. Inspired by his mother’s stories about life in Kolno, Poland, and her family’s subsequent reinvention in America, Karlin’s heartfelt book asks, “What if they had stayed?” Leaving becomes a focus of the main characters: Elazar, a talented boxer, and Rahel, the daughter of a smuggler, leave the small, heavily Jewish town of Kolno on horseback together, after Elazar leaves wealthy widow Rivka Mendl literally at the chupah. Rivka curses them as they leave, and their troubles begin shortly thereafter, when they learn the cost of getting to America. To fake your documents and get you a ticket, gangsters like Leo Bombas will ask for anything—and do. With a beautiful horse named Argamaka in tow, Rahel and Elazar decide to give up on their expatriate dream and return to Kolno. Their welcome is not warm; everyone thinks they should have gone. As they settle back into their lives, the town starts to chatter about a possible German invasion. Kolno’s descent is swift, as Polish neighbors are pitted against Jewish neighbors. Rahel and Elazar decide they must try to escape one last time. As history starts to unfold, the author enters his pages: “I know what has to occur, and this is not a folk tale nor a fairy tale; this is about what happened and what didn’t happen and what will keep happening.” The fact that we know how the story will end doesn’t make it any less emotionally devastating.

A poetic, searching novel about fates hanging in the balance.