FIVE AMBER BEADS

by Richard Aronowitz

‘Amber is freighted with the weight of time and history.’Five Amber Beads is the story of two men whose lives are woven together as they seek to discover the truth about their pasts.Charley Bernstein works in the London art world and is tracing a family history erased by the Holocaust. In his possession is a diary written by a relative in a labour camp during the Third Reich, and Charley must follow the threads leading from its haunting pages to his own present.In New York an old man, Christopher, is found lying semiconscious on the pavement. There are no witnesses to what has happened to him and he has no form of identification. When he wakes up in a hospital bed he finds he doesn't recognise the city or his own skin. In a state of total amnesia, he must embark on a struggle to regain his memory.When fate brings these two men together they find themselves linked by a unique friendship. Their journey takes them from America to the Middle East and England in an enthralling and moving novel that addresses the nature of identity and belonging.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 8, 2006

Reviews

[Sabeeha Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening was promising, two men in a hospital room, one has lost his memory totally, the other, Charley, who works in the art world, is injured, and trying to help his room-mate with amnesia. From thereon, the story shifts to Charley as he tries to piece together his family history through a diary, and that is where the tension is lost. The man with amnesia comes into the story every now and then, and eventually has a predictable ending.

[Adam Hummel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book - couldn't put it down, and finished in just 2 days. Great, quick story that draws you right in and keeps you going until the very last page.

[Robert Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Amber Beads is a brilliantly crafted, and an inextricably woven tale of faction, making this moving novel by Richard Aronowitz a truly compelling read based on such an emotive subject:'The Holocaust'. The combination of harrowing extracts from the diary of a holocaust survivor (a relative), and the fate of bringing the protagonist (the narrator) together with a mysterious (amnesiac) patient in a New York hospital unravels into an amazing twist of fate across the Middle East and back-home in Cambridge. The author provides vivid glimpses on the thought-provoking subject of Nazi looted art - revolving around a masterpiece by Amedeo Modigliani; and moreover the dehumanization of the Jewish race across Europe during World War 2 by their Aryan oppressors. Beautifully and poignantly written with an understated brilliance! Hats-off to Mr Aronowitz for penning his palpable tale of soul-searching identity; so redolent of the 20th century's most darkest epoch - that should never-ever be forgotten...

[Zanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aronowitz uses the device of an elderly man with total amnesia who could be his grandfather or the young SS man who accompanied his great uncle on his escape from Auschwitz to counterpoint that uncle's stark factual diary written during his time as Unterfuhrer at the Sternberg labour camp.

At times clunky and lacking in clarity, this was still a compelling read, moving and important.

[Martinxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An appropriate book to read in Holocaust memorial week...