January 2024 MBR The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Historical Fiction Shelf

Tatae's Promise
Sherry Maysonave and Moises J. Goldman
DartFrog Blue
www.DartFrogBooks.com
9781959096948, $34.99 Hardcover/$24.99 Paper/$11.99 Kindle, 550pp

https://www.amazon.com/Tataes-Promise-womans-escape-Auschwitz/dp/195909694X

Based on the true story of a young woman who was one of only 200 who escaped the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, Tatae's Promise follows the story of Moises J. Goldman's mother, Hinda Mondlak Goldman.

The advantage of presenting this saga as historical fiction rather than as a memoir lies in the authors' ability to add background information, atmospheric flavor, and descriptions of the war's lasting impact on her life and family. These stemmed from eleven tapes in which she painfully recorded her experiences, under mandate from the last words of her father before he was murdered by the Gestapo: "You will live; you will tell." Entrusted with these tapes, Goldman shared their contents with Sherry Maysonave, whose passion for exploring this life and presenting it to an audience has, thankfully, resulted in Tatae's Promise.

What differentiates Tatae's Promise from other survivors' accounts is its sense of immediacy, fostered by descriptive "you are here" moments that place the reader alongside Hinda Mondlak as she observes her world under siege and attack. From the moments a loving single father is torn from his daughters and taken into custody to Hinda's mandate to survive the camps under impossible conditions; readers enter the world and history of Polish Jews in a manner that is immersive, compelling, and chilling.

From kindness that arrives in unexpected forms to struggles that embrace Hinda and her family, few other memoirs and historical accounts capture so powerfully the atmosphere and experiences of Polish Jewish people. Four main characters contribute their lives to this story, serving as powerful testimony of the determination to not just survive atrocities, but honor promises made in the throes of death. With its added value of emotional and atmospheric richness, Tatae's Promise is a 'must have' acquisition for any library looking at high-quality fiction and nonfiction accounts of Polish Jewish history, concentration camp experience, and the power of survival.

These explorations will also attract book clubs interested in selecting and contrasting a few quality titles on all these subjects, powered by an oral history that comes to life through solid literary excellence and collaborative determination.

The Wall at the Sugar Factory
Sherry V. Ostroff
Bushrod Press
9798862381344, $16.99 PB, $9.99 Kindle, 304pp (Ages 14-18)

https://www.amazon.com/Wall-Sugar-Factory-Novel/dp/B0CL2CQVT9

The Wall at the Sugar Factory is a historical novel set in Ukraine, Russia in 1919. It follows the life of Shaindel Pogrebiski, who faces a much-changed world in the aftermath of the civil war which has transformed the nation and brought turmoil to her life.

Amid rounds fired into a peaceable living room home are first-person reflections that make Shaindel a compelling character from the first moments of the adversity that shakes her life: "Another lull in the shooting. Were the monsters rearming? Or did they need to rest and drink and fortify themselves with more vodka? I almost chuckled at the thought. Destroying homes and people's lives required sustenance. I wanted to pray for God's help and protection. But the thoughts of Avrum returned: Prayers will not save you. Action will."

The anti-Jewish riots which rock the nation introduce a quest for peace and survival which charge Shaindel with protecting her family, her life, and her world. She fails in some of her tasks while facing the anti-Jewish sentiment which (some scholars say) laid the groundwork for the Nazis which were to rise decades later.

Sherry V. Ostroff's powerful inspection of these lives and the world of Ukraine after the turn of the century creates a "you are here" feel with an inspection of social and political struggle and strife. The story follows the rise of hatred in a range of characters that step up to confront hate and prejudice. A sojourn in Rumania and efforts to emigrate to the U.S. embrace a series of challenges that lead Shaindel far from her homeland as family in America grows and years of waiting for refuge and freedom challenge her focus on building a new life under different conditions. The memories of deadly pogromists who destroy her family and attempt to bury her cultural roots receives graphic exploration, which may serve as triggers to readers who struggle with similar family history and heritage.

These experiences contribute to a full-bodied story of struggle and redemption which follows a journey to Ellis Island and freedom based on Sherry Ostroff's family experiences and legacy. The Wall at the Sugar Factory is told mostly from her grandmother Shaindel's point of view, paying tribute to her mother as Ostroff fictionalizes her family's story for the world to absorb. The result is a thought-provoking, powerful novel of survival and social change that is especially highly recommended for libraries strong in modern Jewish historical fiction. More so than most novels, it personalizes the politics and perspectives of bygone years, incorporating them into family struggles and immigrant experience that brings the world of the early 1900s to vivid life.

Rome's Last Noble Palace
Kimberly Sullivan
Independently Published
9798986884424, $14.99 PB/$4.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Romes-Noble-Palace-Kimberly-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0CJY89NQT

Rome's Last Noble Palace follows the lives of two different women who live in different centuries. There's 1896 American Isabelle, who has been sent to Rome to live with her aunt and be primed for a successful marriage; and, a century later, doctoral candidate Sophie, who can't believe her good luck in landing a position as an intern in Rome's Near Eastern Art Museum.

A ghost in the room begins to haunt Sophie's days, contrasting the worlds and opportunities of 2018 Rome with those of 1896, an era when women were expected to marry well and not much more.

Kimberly Sullivan creates a memorable contrast in social and personal expectations as events move between these disparate worlds. When Isabelle is attacked by a nobleman who feels it is his right to take what he feels he owns, readers will find the tense reflections, revelations, and forces that buffet both women to be thoroughly absorbing, realistic, and thought-provoking. The women confront specters of honorable and dishonorable men and forces that try to dictate their paths in the world. Each confronts the obstacles of their heritage and self-perception which, in turn, lends to new dreams and opportunities proffered only to the brave and savvy.

A ghostly warning from the past evolves to try to prevent a similar happenstance from destroying another woman's life in the future, and readers will find the juxtaposition of intrigue, social norms, romantic possibilities, and revised interpersonal relationships to be compellingly realistic and satisfyingly unpredictable.

The landmarks and hallmarks of Rome come to life through a blend of historical accuracy and Sullivan's personal familiarity with the city, capturing the milieu of urban projects and the specter of its Palazzo Brancaccio, Rome's Last Noble Palace.

Libraries and readers interested in novels replete with vivid insights on art, women's lives, and historical currents of change that move through Roman affairs will find delightfully realistic and compelling Rome's Last Noble Palace's study of two seemingly disparate, yet connected women whose lives dovetail in unexpected ways.

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