The Beech Forest

by Marlis Wesseler

Lisa Braun struggles to understand both her own life and the tragic historic events that haunt her in this engaging new novel written in Marlis Wesseler's characteristically understated, confiding prose.

The novel begins with Lisa heading off into a beautiful beech forest in Germany, near where her in-laws live. As she walks, she ponders the stark contrast between the peaceful forest and the notorious concentration camp, both known as Buchenwald. Her husband Gerhardt's family has always been reticent, or maybe evasive, about the Holocaust and their family's World War Two experiences, and Lisa has learned not to ask too many questions.

After they return to Canada, Lisa unexpectedly finds herself very alone and at loose ends, and through a series of events befriends an elderly man, Ben Meisner, who was interned in Buchenwald—and the questions she has always wanted to ask come searingly into focus. Lisa gets a closer view of unthinkable events than she bargained for, and in time Ben Meisner relies on her in a way she could never have predicted.

This wry, perceptive novel is about secrets and silences; about estrangements between family members, and gaps in understanding between well-intentioned people who struggle to bridge the distances between one another. The Beech Forest looks into the dark corners of the human heart, and brings us back out into the light of day with humour and compassion.

222 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2024

Reviews

[J. Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa, Marlis Wesseler’s protagonist, is a thoughtful, clear-headed woman whose world may seem plain on the surface but is anything but, below. Through her thoughts and observations readers see the complexities related to a heart conflicted in personal matters related to her marriage, to personal morals, including shifting narratives of Nazi German history uncomfortably at odds with the present, in both Germany and Saskatchewan. Lisa’s husband is German, and during their trips to visit his relatives, she seeks ways to reconcile perspectives on Nazi Germany that are generally kept uncomfortably quiet. The lingering shadowy presence of Nazi Germany she experiences during visits in Germany is present in Saskatchewan, too; its echoes permeate Lisa’s rural prairie life in emotionally unsettling scenes. Personal and historical events are filtered through time, space, and cultural differences as subsequent generations deal or don’t deal with their country’s Nazi past. Finally filtered through Lisa’s consciousness, they inform our thinking without overwhelming. In fact, Wesseler can be laugh out loud funny, sharply daring in the thoughts readers are privy to; Wesseler is a master of the tongue in cheek and the understatement. Her clean, clear voice is utterly engaging, quietly evocative, unwavering, and sharply observant. Her characters are beautifully drawn and captivating.

[Cheryl Sokoloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buchenwald (German), means birch forest. It is also the name of one death camp set up by the Nazis.

This is ultimately a book about the struggle of moving forward after WW2, for the perpetrators and the survivors.

As much as one can enjoy a book about the atrocities of WW2 (and their consequences), I was surprised to read a WW2 book set in the Canadian prairies! This does not happen very often. I appreciated this perspective.

[G.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beech Forest starts as a slow portrait of an aging couple visiting the narrator's German in-laws in Germany. Our narrator appears bored with her husband and his family. The story progresses ever upward, growing in intensity and power as it moves forward, kind of like driving up a hill in southern Ontario, you don't know you're on the incline till it's in the rearview.

Compelling characters. Compelling narrative. Hell, yes!