Novel tells of Vilna and Brooklyn in 1940s

The Sweetness by Sande Boritz Berger, shewritespress.com, 2014, 978-1-63152-907-8, 301 pgs.,$16.95

By Eva Trieger

Eva Trieger
Eva Trieger

ENCINITAS, California — Recently nominated by The American Library Association for its yearly Sophie Brody Award for Jewish Literature, this moving novel revisits one of the bleakest periods, not just in Jewish memory, but in world history.  In this debut work, Sande Boritz Berger explores the events of 1941 in the Vilna ghetto and Brooklyn, New York.

Rosha, a young girl, informs the reader of life in the shtetl, and the sanctions placed upon Jews; the sundown curfew, the constant abuse by German and Lithuanian soldiers, and the yellow star stitched onto “gauzy grey cloth” baring the letters J-U-D-E.  However, the greatest horror is that her insular, cozy family is soon to be torn asunder.

Like so many Jewish families in Eastern Europe at this time, who did not read the writing on the wall and escape when they might have, Rosha’s parents would be taken by the Nazis, to some unknown and presumably tragic end. In order to spare their daughter this brutal demise, her distraught and desperate father has arranged with the candle maker and his wife, to secrete Rosha in their home with their own two non-Jewish children.  Mr. Juraska, the merchant is married to a Catholic woman, therefore able to provide a safe haven for little orphaned Rosha.

The novel then shifts gears, locale and voice, as the reader meets Mira Kane, a young American woman seeking a career as a fashion designer.  Twenty years prior, Charlie Kane and his brother and sisters had arrived at Ellis Island, but had not been able to convince their brother, Mira’s uncle, Mordecai, to follow suit.  Mordecai, Rosha’s father, had remained behind in Poland despite their urgings and was now lost to them.

With the onset of World War II, the Kanes, who had built a very comfortable life, were plunged into financial hardship.  The strain was so great that Mira had to leave her studies at the prestigious Rockefeller School.  This setback leads to major disappointment for the girl, but also paves the way for the author to create some new relationships between Mira and her aunts, Jeanette and Rena.

The book traverses the Atlantic by chapter, keeping the reader informed on Rosha’s struggle to retain her identity and develop a loving relationship with the Juraska’s and their two children, who are not immediately taken with their new “sister.”  In time, through illnesses and loss, the children do develop a loving connection.

It seems imperative that the cousins, Rosha and Mira will meet, but for this reviewer, the cross continental trafficking was confusing and the introduction of new characters with their own unique brand of mishigas made the tale convoluted and difficult to navigate.  The degree of detail about minor characters detracted from the larger story, and left me having to re-read sections for better fluidity and comprehension.

The novel is worth reading for its language and imagery, as well as, the accuracy of events and honest depiction of emotional turmoil.  Important themes are addressed including survivor guilt, selfless love and the enduring bond of kinship and family.

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Trieger is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts.  She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com