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City of Secrets
From master storyteller Stewart O’Nan, a timely moral thriller of the Jewish underground resistance in Jerusalem after the Second World War
In 1945, with no homes to return to, Jewish refugees by the tens of thousands set out for Palestine. Those who made it were hunted as illegals by the British mandatory authorities there and relied on the underground to shelter them; taking fake names, they blended with the population, joining the wildly different factions fighting for the independence of Israel. City of Secrets follows one survivor, Brand, as he tries to regain himself after losing everyone he’s ever loved. Now driving a taxi provided—like his new identity—by the underground, he navigates the twisting streets of Jerusalem as well as the overlapping, sometimes deadly loyalties of the resistance. Alone, haunted by memories, he tries to become again the man he was before the war—honest, strong, capable of moral choice. He falls in love with Eva, a fellow survivor and member of his cell, reclaims his faith, and commits himself to the revolution, accepting secret missions that grow more and more dangerous even as he begins to suspect he’s being used by their cell’s dashing leader, Asher. By the time Brand understands the truth, it’s too late, and the tragedy that ensues changes history. A noirish, deeply felt novel of intrigue and identity written in O’Nan’s trademark lucent style, City of Secrets asks how both despair and faith can lead us astray, and what happens when, with the noblest intentions, we join movements beyond our control.
In 1945, with no homes to return to, Jewish refugees by the tens of thousands set out for Palestine. Those who made it were hunted as illegals by the British mandatory authorities there and relied on the underground to shelter them; taking fake names, they blended with the population, joining the wildly different factions fighting for the independence of Israel. City of Secrets follows one survivor, Brand, as he tries to regain himself after losing everyone he’s ever loved. Now driving a taxi provided—like his new identity—by the underground, he navigates the twisting streets of Jerusalem as well as the overlapping, sometimes deadly loyalties of the resistance. Alone, haunted by memories, he tries to become again the man he was before the war—honest, strong, capable of moral choice. He falls in love with Eva, a fellow survivor and member of his cell, reclaims his faith, and commits himself to the revolution, accepting secret missions that grow more and more dangerous even as he begins to suspect he’s being used by their cell’s dashing leader, Asher. By the time Brand understands the truth, it’s too late, and the tragedy that ensues changes history. A noirish, deeply felt novel of intrigue and identity written in O’Nan’s trademark lucent style, City of Secrets asks how both despair and faith can lead us astray, and what happens when, with the noblest intentions, we join movements beyond our control.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2016
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1532 people want to read
About the author
Stewart O'Nan
70 books1,364 followersStewart O'Nan is the author of eighteen novels, including Emily, Alone; Last Night at the Lobster; A Prayer for the Dying; Snow Angels; and the forthcoming Ocean State, due out from Grove/Atlantic on March 8th, 2022.
With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”
You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor
With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”
You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
May 9, 2016
Brand is haunted by the loss of his wife, his parents , his sister, by the time he spent in the camps and his inability to save others . As a holocaust survivor with his family taken from him and his home in Latvia gone, he tries to find a place for himself, as he accepts a new identity and goes to Palestine with the help of Haganah, part of the Jewish resistance in Palestine after the war. He drives a taxi, lives with a new name , and I couldn't shake the thought that while Brand survived the camps, he was still in captivity.
I've read numerous books on the Holocaust and WWII but I haven't read much about the aftermath or what happened to the holocaust survivors . O'Nan in this novel gives us the chance to think about the Jews who tried to settle in Jerusalem after the war . I didn't know what Irgun or Haganah were and knew nothing of what happened after the war with British Mandate and occupation in Palestine after the war . I'm glad I took the advice of my Goodreads friend Diane to read O'Nan's brief note at the end and I too looked up information about these groups before I got too far in this short novel.
I was heartbroken for Brand as he reveals pieces of his past , and I couldn't get over the feeling that he didn't quite know what he was involved with here as he never seemed to be privy to what they were asking him to do. There was always a distance between him and these other operatives in the resistance, even Eva, who he lets himself fall in love with despite his guilt when he thinks about his beloved Katya. I definitely learned things that I knew nothing about and while the story is in some way about the broader implications of establishing a Jewish state , I woke up thinking about Brand, his losses, where he would go from here. This is only the second O'Nan book I have read and I find myself wanting to read more of his writing which drew me in .
Thanks to Penguin Group (USA) Inc./Viking and Edelweiss .
I've read numerous books on the Holocaust and WWII but I haven't read much about the aftermath or what happened to the holocaust survivors . O'Nan in this novel gives us the chance to think about the Jews who tried to settle in Jerusalem after the war . I didn't know what Irgun or Haganah were and knew nothing of what happened after the war with British Mandate and occupation in Palestine after the war . I'm glad I took the advice of my Goodreads friend Diane to read O'Nan's brief note at the end and I too looked up information about these groups before I got too far in this short novel.
I was heartbroken for Brand as he reveals pieces of his past , and I couldn't get over the feeling that he didn't quite know what he was involved with here as he never seemed to be privy to what they were asking him to do. There was always a distance between him and these other operatives in the resistance, even Eva, who he lets himself fall in love with despite his guilt when he thinks about his beloved Katya. I definitely learned things that I knew nothing about and while the story is in some way about the broader implications of establishing a Jewish state , I woke up thinking about Brand, his losses, where he would go from here. This is only the second O'Nan book I have read and I find myself wanting to read more of his writing which drew me in .
Thanks to Penguin Group (USA) Inc./Viking and Edelweiss .
May 2, 2016
3.5 Had never heard of the Irgun, the Haganah or really knew nothing much about Isreal after the war. So of course I turned to the great and powerful wiki. Which turned out to be unnecessary because when I got to the end of the book, O'Nan furnished a historical note about this, why it wasn't in the front of the book I don't know. Seems to make more sense to me, since when I started reading this I felt as if I was in no man's land, totally clueless.
Still the main story is about Brand, a young man who had lost his family, his wife in the war. Spent time in prison camps and has entered Israel illegally using forged documents. One get the flavor of Israel during this time, roadblocks, retaliation and the constant threat of violence. Brand joins the Irgun, fighting against the British and their mandate, falls in love with Eve, another operative, but soon he is in over his head. He has a big decision to make.
The writing was great, the action was non stop with Brands back story threaded in between as is his relationship with Eve. That I had never read a book covering this topic was a big plus. But my advice, read the author's note at the back first if you are as clueless on this subject as I was.
ARC from Netgalley.
Still the main story is about Brand, a young man who had lost his family, his wife in the war. Spent time in prison camps and has entered Israel illegally using forged documents. One get the flavor of Israel during this time, roadblocks, retaliation and the constant threat of violence. Brand joins the Irgun, fighting against the British and their mandate, falls in love with Eve, another operative, but soon he is in over his head. He has a big decision to make.
The writing was great, the action was non stop with Brands back story threaded in between as is his relationship with Eve. That I had never read a book covering this topic was a big plus. But my advice, read the author's note at the back first if you are as clueless on this subject as I was.
ARC from Netgalley.
April 30, 2022
Another *Stewart O’Nan* book for me…. 🇮🇱 Master Storyteller❗️
The year was 1945…
“City of Secrets” follows Brand, a widower-Latvian Jew-Holocaust survivor. After he survived the camps, he illegally immigrated to Israel after losing his entire family….and everyone he loved.
The Haganah, the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population in Mandatory Palestine — between 1920 and 1948 ….became the core of Israel Defense Forces. Its purpose was to defend Jewish settlements from Arab attacks.
The Haganah gave Brand new identity papers and he becomes a cover-up taxi driver.
A question that remained on Brand’s mind from beginning to end was…..”How many people had he killed by not fighting? He swore he would never forget the dead”.
And…. How does one keep living when you let people you loved die?
So….once in Israel….with horrific memories haunting him — he will face more tragedy —
“We’re not the same Jews anymore—we’re not going to sit around and not fight back”.
Brand’s own philosophy‘s were closer to the resistance in favor of non-violence…but he directly supported the Haganah.
In the meantime — British and Zionist forces clashed throughout the period of the Civil War up to the termination of the British mandate for Palestine and the Israeli Declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.
The British Army found itself stuck in the middle of the growing conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine….
So….what follows - Brand, with his new name Jussi - joins ‘the cause’: fighting for Israeli Independence.
He operate as a courier in Jerusalem, part of a small cell that includes an older women whom he falls in love with.
By following Brand/Jussi…..(adding relationship-intimacy-thriller twists & turns-making his character feel very real)….
from being a frightened immigrant to an active terrorist — with insights into post war British Mandate — Stewart O’Nan has provided an ‘easy-to-understand’ history lesson of the horrors, repercussions, consequences, complexities, and outcome to the State of Israel.
I loved this guy - Stewart O’Nan….more and more ….each book I read. The tension in this novel keeps on unraveling.
The tone of sadness, loneliness, fear, grief….is always just below the surface.
O’Nan is wonderful at capturing emotional moods without spitting them directly into our face!
I’ve much respect for how he does what does.
I’ve become such a (late bloomer) fan of his work — his writing - his characters - dialogue- storytelling -
Easy 5 stars from me.
It’s intimate in scope—with unrelenting thriller suspense — but it’s also historically massive.
The year was 1945…
“City of Secrets” follows Brand, a widower-Latvian Jew-Holocaust survivor. After he survived the camps, he illegally immigrated to Israel after losing his entire family….and everyone he loved.
The Haganah, the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population in Mandatory Palestine — between 1920 and 1948 ….became the core of Israel Defense Forces. Its purpose was to defend Jewish settlements from Arab attacks.
The Haganah gave Brand new identity papers and he becomes a cover-up taxi driver.
A question that remained on Brand’s mind from beginning to end was…..”How many people had he killed by not fighting? He swore he would never forget the dead”.
And…. How does one keep living when you let people you loved die?
So….once in Israel….with horrific memories haunting him — he will face more tragedy —
“We’re not the same Jews anymore—we’re not going to sit around and not fight back”.
Brand’s own philosophy‘s were closer to the resistance in favor of non-violence…but he directly supported the Haganah.
In the meantime — British and Zionist forces clashed throughout the period of the Civil War up to the termination of the British mandate for Palestine and the Israeli Declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.
The British Army found itself stuck in the middle of the growing conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine….
So….what follows - Brand, with his new name Jussi - joins ‘the cause’: fighting for Israeli Independence.
He operate as a courier in Jerusalem, part of a small cell that includes an older women whom he falls in love with.
By following Brand/Jussi…..(adding relationship-intimacy-thriller twists & turns-making his character feel very real)….
from being a frightened immigrant to an active terrorist — with insights into post war British Mandate — Stewart O’Nan has provided an ‘easy-to-understand’ history lesson of the horrors, repercussions, consequences, complexities, and outcome to the State of Israel.
I loved this guy - Stewart O’Nan….more and more ….each book I read. The tension in this novel keeps on unraveling.
The tone of sadness, loneliness, fear, grief….is always just below the surface.
O’Nan is wonderful at capturing emotional moods without spitting them directly into our face!
I’ve much respect for how he does what does.
I’ve become such a (late bloomer) fan of his work — his writing - his characters - dialogue- storytelling -
Easy 5 stars from me.
It’s intimate in scope—with unrelenting thriller suspense — but it’s also historically massive.
June 25, 2016
Great Britain had been occupying Palestine after World War II, and issued quotas allowing only 75,000 Jews to immigrate to Palestine over five years. Brand is a Latvian illegal refugee who survived both German and Russian concentration camps because he had good mechanical skills. In the mid 1940s he shipped off to Jerusalem where the Haganah underground gave him a new identity, and an occupation of a taxi driver.
Brand had lost everything--his beloved wife, his family, and his identity. He feels survivor's guilt, and has painful memories of the atrocities he has witnessed. He's falling in love with another survivor who is also a member of the resistance--a former actress who now works as a prostitute.
The Haganah carries out attacks on British property to protest the British blockade of Jewish refugee ships and British immigration restrictions. But things become more violent and lives are lost when the Haganah joins with the Irgun. Brand is carrying out missions planned by their leaders, transporting explosives and other resistance workers in his taxi. He's a good man who is becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the violence escalates. The underground fight, which started with good intentions, now possesses moral ambiguities. As Brand witnesses the carnage from a terribly violent attack, he wonders who he is becoming and what kind of a man he wants to be.
Brand is a wonderful conflicted character who has experienced too much tragedy in his life. This thriller is based partly on actual historical events, mainly in 1946 Palestine. The author showed the complexity of the political situation while creating an exciting work of fiction.
Brand had lost everything--his beloved wife, his family, and his identity. He feels survivor's guilt, and has painful memories of the atrocities he has witnessed. He's falling in love with another survivor who is also a member of the resistance--a former actress who now works as a prostitute.
The Haganah carries out attacks on British property to protest the British blockade of Jewish refugee ships and British immigration restrictions. But things become more violent and lives are lost when the Haganah joins with the Irgun. Brand is carrying out missions planned by their leaders, transporting explosives and other resistance workers in his taxi. He's a good man who is becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the violence escalates. The underground fight, which started with good intentions, now possesses moral ambiguities. As Brand witnesses the carnage from a terribly violent attack, he wonders who he is becoming and what kind of a man he wants to be.
Brand is a wonderful conflicted character who has experienced too much tragedy in his life. This thriller is based partly on actual historical events, mainly in 1946 Palestine. The author showed the complexity of the political situation while creating an exciting work of fiction.
March 28, 2016
I’ve long wanted to try a Stewart O’Nan book so when I saw this book, I decided to request it. This may not have been the best of O’Nan’s books to start off with, though I can certainly see that he has an excellent way with words. I think having a bit of background in the Irgun and the history surrounding this novel would have been very helpful in allowing me to appreciate the story better. I did get lost a few times as to just what was happening. But then again Brand, the main protagonist in this book, was also often times lost as he wasn’t given enough background information and was kept in the dark as to the Irgun’s plans.
Brand, a/k/a Jossi Jorgensen, is a taxi driver in Jerusalem in 1946. He’s a Latvian Holocaust survivor who is given false papers by the Haganah, which is from what I understand (and I may be incorrect) a group set up to protect Jewish immigrants from the British mandate and the local Arabs. The Haganah was not a violent group; however, Brand becomes involved with the Irgun, an underground resistance movement. He is first used as a taxi driver for the Irgun but then is tested in more dangerous endeavors.
I think the main problem I had with this book is that the author assumes his readers are familiar with this period of time and place. Not being familiar with the history referred to, I still did have a vague understanding of what was happening and understood the dangers that Brand found himself in. There is still a story in here that can be enjoyed. Brand’s back story is an emotional one and his present state of affairs had me longing for a good outcome for him, as well as for his prostitute girlfriend Eva. The story kept me turning the pages and I had to see it through to the end. I most definitely will go on to read other Stewart O’Nan books.
This book was given to me by the publisher through First to Read in return for an honest review.
Brand, a/k/a Jossi Jorgensen, is a taxi driver in Jerusalem in 1946. He’s a Latvian Holocaust survivor who is given false papers by the Haganah, which is from what I understand (and I may be incorrect) a group set up to protect Jewish immigrants from the British mandate and the local Arabs. The Haganah was not a violent group; however, Brand becomes involved with the Irgun, an underground resistance movement. He is first used as a taxi driver for the Irgun but then is tested in more dangerous endeavors.
I think the main problem I had with this book is that the author assumes his readers are familiar with this period of time and place. Not being familiar with the history referred to, I still did have a vague understanding of what was happening and understood the dangers that Brand found himself in. There is still a story in here that can be enjoyed. Brand’s back story is an emotional one and his present state of affairs had me longing for a good outcome for him, as well as for his prostitute girlfriend Eva. The story kept me turning the pages and I had to see it through to the end. I most definitely will go on to read other Stewart O’Nan books.
This book was given to me by the publisher through First to Read in return for an honest review.
February 16, 2017
Stewart O'Nan has written some of my favorite books, most notably, Last Night at the Lobster. That book haunts me to this day. He chooses subjects that fasciate him, and after much research, creates spare lovely fictional accounts, or, as in the case of reporting on the circus fire in Hartford of 1948, a nonfictional record. One of his books that I loved he wrote as a journal with Stephen King about the Red Sox's 2003 year. So it was not puzzling to discover his talent at turning his hand to a historical novel about an event that had piqued his interest - that of the destruction of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946.
For Brand, it was next year in Jerusalem, but without the sweetness. Brand is living there after surviving the death camps of WWII, but his name and even his profession has been created by his "cell," the underground Zionist movement present when for a short time the factions in Israel fighting the oppressive British mandated government coalesced for the common goal. This is an eyeopener -- Leon Uris's Exodus informed the world of what was happening in the struggle for a haven for the misplaced Jews of Europe, but this short, spare novel is much more succinct in its presentation. Brand, going under the name of Jussi, is anxious to contribute to the cause and usually finds himself and his taxi serving auxiliary roles. I was particularly surprised at the number of tourists who descended at that time despite the bombings, the danger. But O'Nan and his credible style brought all to light beautifully.
For Brand, it was next year in Jerusalem, but without the sweetness. Brand is living there after surviving the death camps of WWII, but his name and even his profession has been created by his "cell," the underground Zionist movement present when for a short time the factions in Israel fighting the oppressive British mandated government coalesced for the common goal. This is an eyeopener -- Leon Uris's Exodus informed the world of what was happening in the struggle for a haven for the misplaced Jews of Europe, but this short, spare novel is much more succinct in its presentation. Brand, going under the name of Jussi, is anxious to contribute to the cause and usually finds himself and his taxi serving auxiliary roles. I was particularly surprised at the number of tourists who descended at that time despite the bombings, the danger. But O'Nan and his credible style brought all to light beautifully.
September 27, 2016
Edoardo Ballerini is a great narrator for this haunting novel by O'Nan--his understated performance and whispery voice perfectly capture the mood of the novel set in 1945-6 Jerusalem. Brand's entire family was killed during the war and he has come to Jerusalem a man haunted by his memories and the past. He becomes involved with the Haganah, which becomes more and more violent in attacks against the British. We know from the first that things will not end well, and they don't. Brand is an intriguing character, flawed and complex, "an innocent caught in the web of history." He's trying to atone for his passivity during the war and is drawn into radical action in which he doesn't quite believe among fellow radicals who never quite trust him. The story is filled with historical details and evokes a real sense of time and place. It's riveting, compelling. O'Nan's spare writing complements the tone of this "rigorously unsentimental" novel, moody and bleak and building in intensity to the fateful last pages.
September 14, 2018
Stewart O'Nan commits the most heinous crime of a historical novelist -- he muddles time. Is it 1945 or 1946? The bombing of the King David Hotel by the Zionist Irgun, the culminating event of City of Secrets, took place in July, 1946. Just before the bombing, O'Nan mentions the high commissioner flying off the London to consult with Churchill. Churchill was no longer the Prime Minister in 1946. The Tories were ousted in July, 1945.
The devil is in the details.
The devil is in the details.
January 10, 2016
Bring out your history books and look up post-World War II Israel when the British adhered to careful quotas of how many Jews would be allowed to enter Israel. It would also be helpful to know about the Irgun and other militant Jewish groups that fought against British control. I found myself wishing that I had done this prior to reading 'City of Secrets' which is rife with history that the author presents in context but is not necessarily known by the general public.
Brand, the protagonist of this novel, is a man spinning from the after-effects of losing his beloved family in the holocaust. A cab driver in Israel, he finds that he is forced to put on a false front on many levels, even to the extent of changing his name, having a forged passport, and pretending that he is simple-minded. He reels from the past but is not fully alive in the present. He loves Eva, a woman many years his senior who is a member of the Irgun and a well-heeled prostitute with a penchant for dancing and drinking through the night. His love, however, must remain silent or he risks losing Eva. Though Eva will not replace his wife Katya who died in the camps, she is what gets him through his days and nights, his only connection to someone he believes is real. Those around him, involved in politics and militancy, go by names he is not sure are truly theirs.
Brand attempts to look inside himself and better understand the choices he made in the past. Faced with huge disappointment in himself, he tries to be braver and act more legitimately in a world that requires secrecy and falsehoods. As he tries to make sense of a seemingly senseless world, the reader is privy to his moral stumblings and ethical dilemmas.
O'nan has taken on an important subject in an important time of history. I found, however, that I was not able to connect with the characters. Brand's sense of futility and confusion became mine as I struggled to piece together a collage of his character. I got as lost as Brand did when he attempted to understand those around him, even Eva. I have enjoyed O'Nan's previous books but this one just did not speak to me in the way it was intended to.
Brand, the protagonist of this novel, is a man spinning from the after-effects of losing his beloved family in the holocaust. A cab driver in Israel, he finds that he is forced to put on a false front on many levels, even to the extent of changing his name, having a forged passport, and pretending that he is simple-minded. He reels from the past but is not fully alive in the present. He loves Eva, a woman many years his senior who is a member of the Irgun and a well-heeled prostitute with a penchant for dancing and drinking through the night. His love, however, must remain silent or he risks losing Eva. Though Eva will not replace his wife Katya who died in the camps, she is what gets him through his days and nights, his only connection to someone he believes is real. Those around him, involved in politics and militancy, go by names he is not sure are truly theirs.
Brand attempts to look inside himself and better understand the choices he made in the past. Faced with huge disappointment in himself, he tries to be braver and act more legitimately in a world that requires secrecy and falsehoods. As he tries to make sense of a seemingly senseless world, the reader is privy to his moral stumblings and ethical dilemmas.
O'nan has taken on an important subject in an important time of history. I found, however, that I was not able to connect with the characters. Brand's sense of futility and confusion became mine as I struggled to piece together a collage of his character. I got as lost as Brand did when he attempted to understand those around him, even Eva. I have enjoyed O'Nan's previous books but this one just did not speak to me in the way it was intended to.
January 11, 2017
An interesting story, well written. I had no knowledge about Jerusalem after 1945. 4,5 stars
May 6, 2016
City of Secrets is set in Jerusalem in 1945. Jewish refugees have been fleeing Europe with the hope of settling in Palestine. There were quotas on the number of Jewish people who could take this route which led to many illegal refugees. The protagonist, Brand, is one of them. He gets involved with resistance fighters who provide him with a fake identity. Nothing is free and there is an expectation of payback through illegal actions.
The problem with this book is that there is no context around the situation. I felt like I arrived in the middle of a movie. Stewart O'Nan is renowned for his character development and that was also missing here. Brand was a stranger to me right to the end of the book.
I highly recommend seeking out other books by Stewart O'Nan. He's a wonderful author. The Names of the Dead, Last Night at the Lobster or The Odds are all good choices. City of Secrets was a miss for me.
The problem with this book is that there is no context around the situation. I felt like I arrived in the middle of a movie. Stewart O'Nan is renowned for his character development and that was also missing here. Brand was a stranger to me right to the end of the book.
I highly recommend seeking out other books by Stewart O'Nan. He's a wonderful author. The Names of the Dead, Last Night at the Lobster or The Odds are all good choices. City of Secrets was a miss for me.
April 21, 2021
Book on CD narrated by Edoardo Ballerini
From the book jacket: In 1945, Jewish refugees by the thousands set out for Palestine. Those who made it relied on the underground to shelter them; taking false names, they blended with the population, joining the wildly different factions fighting for independence. [This book] follows one survivor, Brand, as he tries to regain himself after losing everyone he’s ever loved. Now driving a taxi provided – like his new identity – by the underground, he navigates the twisting streets of Jerusalem as well as the overlapping, sometimes deadly loyalties of the resistance.
My reactions:
I really like O’Nan’s writing. I like the way he gets inside the character’s psychological makeup, how he reveals his characters strengths and flaws, hopes and fears through the action of the story. This book is a very contemplative one. Brand – or Jossi Jorgenen as he is known in Jerusalem – is forced to think through the various possibilities each time he’s given a task. Is this simply a taxi fare? Or is there a coded message in the destination or time of pick up? Can he trust his landlady? What about Eva, the woman he loves and who professes to love him? Are the leaders of the resistance confident in his loyalty to them? Or will he be taken into the desert and shot, his body left for the carrion eaters to dispose of?
This is a slim volume but full of information about the time and location. I found myself searching google for more details and for pictures of the city to better understand what was happening and where the action was taking place.
All that being said, it was perhaps too intense for me, at least at this time. Yes, there is plenty of action, but I was left feeling tense and ill at ease. I’ve got enough of that in real life these days.
Edoardo Ballerini is a marvelous voice artist and narrator. I think I would listen to him read anything, even a receipt for dry cleaning.
From the book jacket: In 1945, Jewish refugees by the thousands set out for Palestine. Those who made it relied on the underground to shelter them; taking false names, they blended with the population, joining the wildly different factions fighting for independence. [This book] follows one survivor, Brand, as he tries to regain himself after losing everyone he’s ever loved. Now driving a taxi provided – like his new identity – by the underground, he navigates the twisting streets of Jerusalem as well as the overlapping, sometimes deadly loyalties of the resistance.
My reactions:
I really like O’Nan’s writing. I like the way he gets inside the character’s psychological makeup, how he reveals his characters strengths and flaws, hopes and fears through the action of the story. This book is a very contemplative one. Brand – or Jossi Jorgenen as he is known in Jerusalem – is forced to think through the various possibilities each time he’s given a task. Is this simply a taxi fare? Or is there a coded message in the destination or time of pick up? Can he trust his landlady? What about Eva, the woman he loves and who professes to love him? Are the leaders of the resistance confident in his loyalty to them? Or will he be taken into the desert and shot, his body left for the carrion eaters to dispose of?
This is a slim volume but full of information about the time and location. I found myself searching google for more details and for pictures of the city to better understand what was happening and where the action was taking place.
All that being said, it was perhaps too intense for me, at least at this time. Yes, there is plenty of action, but I was left feeling tense and ill at ease. I’ve got enough of that in real life these days.
Edoardo Ballerini is a marvelous voice artist and narrator. I think I would listen to him read anything, even a receipt for dry cleaning.
July 4, 2018
After the fabulous Last Night at the Lobster, I was eager for another Stewart O'Nan novel. I chose City of Secrets for the post-WWII Jerusalem setting and the element of Jewish spies. Sounded like a book written especially for me. Alas, CoS fell short of my expectations, retaining O'Nan's sparse, emotions-driven narrative style, but leaving too much context unspoken.
While I know a fair amount on the Zionist movement following WWII, I was not as up to speed on the rebel groups who fought for the Holy Land and raised hell against the British in that time period. Unfortunately, CoS did little to explain the why of action sequences and turncoat suspense. I was often confused, not to what was happening, but what it meant in the bigger picture.
All in all, this was an atmospheric historical fiction novel that could have had a stronger impact if more of the backstory had been fleshed out.
While I know a fair amount on the Zionist movement following WWII, I was not as up to speed on the rebel groups who fought for the Holy Land and raised hell against the British in that time period. Unfortunately, CoS did little to explain the why of action sequences and turncoat suspense. I was often confused, not to what was happening, but what it meant in the bigger picture.
All in all, this was an atmospheric historical fiction novel that could have had a stronger impact if more of the backstory had been fleshed out.
September 10, 2016
3.5 stars. First, let me say you should read the author's note in the back before you read the book. Or you may feel like I did, and that is that you have walked into a movie half way through its start. I didn't know who the various groups were, was not familiar with what was going on there (that was part of the reason I wanted to read the book) and the author clearly presumes that you have knowledge of the time/place/players. The author does have a gift for creating characters and atmospheres and certainly a sense of foreboding and danger. You instantly feel the apprehension and fear that "jossi" does of being detained, tortured or killed. You also are keenly aware that everyone has lost someone and feel that although people are connecting, they are also dancing with ghosts. It's a thin novel, a small sliver in time, and I just wish O'Nan had done more in terms of giving us the settings and contexts so we could understand the real impact of what was going on.
March 11, 2016
Stewart O’Nan is one of my favorite authors. His books may be spare in page count, but each packs a big punch. In City of Secrets O’Nan tackles Palestine in the aftermath of WWII. Those with no home to return to sought Palestine as a refuge, but were not welcomed by the British who policed the state. Brand lost all of his family in the camps in Europe. He survived, only to come to Palestine and be forced underground and into the resistance movement to survive and hopefully, make a place for others to live more freely. Unfortunately, for him, he cannot help but make comparisons between his current comrades and his oppressors from a most recent past. This is a book to really think about, not one to set aside and reach for the next.
June 15, 2017
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 4.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Emotional impact: 3.5
Overall rating: 4
Writing: 4.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Emotional impact: 3.5
Overall rating: 4
August 21, 2017
This book gave a fascinating background to the bombing of the King David Hotel and life in Jerusalem at the time.
June 28, 2016
This review originally appeared in BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/in...
In his new novel, City of Secrets, Stewart O’Nan spins a tale of espionage and intrigue as richly layered and complex as the city it portrays, 1946 Jerusalem during the British Mandate. Like the city of Casablanca portrayed in the 1942 Michael Curtiz eponymous film—and indeed there are many thematic similarities—Jerusalem is a place where no one is who he claims to be, spies are everywhere, and the characters are players moving toward a larger and dangerous purpose about which most of them can only guess. “The city was a puzzle box built of symbols, a confusion of old and new . . . everyone seemed to be in costume, reenacting the miraculous past.” Also like Casablanca, Jerusalem is teeming with refugees. Here, they have either fled the violence and anti-Semitism that culminated in the Holocaust or, like Brand, the novel’s protagonist, have arrived as survivors, their old homes gone, their old lives destroyed.
Brand is a Jew from Riga, Latvia who survived because he “was lucky” and could “fix an engine.” His parents, sister, and wife were not so lucky; the Germans herded them into the forest and shot them. Following the British White Paper of 1939, Jewish immigration to Palestine was severely restricted and then became illegal in 1944, and so Brand, like most survivors, was smuggled in on a ship operated by Jewish resistance organizations, in his case the Haganah, of which he soon became a member. “Like so many refugees, he drove a taxi, provided by the underground. His new name was Jossi. His job was to listen – again lucky, since as a prisoner he had years of experience.”
In O’Nan’s hands, the landscape of the city and the country beyond take on a vivid and cinematic richness involving all the senses. The reader wanders with Brand through the confusing constructions of gates, walls, and narrow, dark streets that was Jerusalem, hearing the wind and driving rain, tantalized by the steamy aromas of the coffee souks, catching the strains of jazz standards that rise above the static on Brand’s cheap radio as he and Eva dance across the floor in her flat. O’Nan states that the Jerusalem of 1946 is “long gone,” rendering modern guidebooks and maps useless. The Jewish Quarter of which he writes was destroyed, and many of the old neighborhoods have been bulldozed. He had to find maps and guidebooks from the time, many of which were “riddled with inconsistencies.” In the end, he used the lack of information to his authorial advantage. “This way, the author, the character, and the reader are all learning at the same time, trying to navigate the physical and political labyrinth of post-war Jerusalem.”
The story opens at the time when the Haganah, which had been opposed to violent tactics, has joined forces with the Irgun, an organization known for its terrorist acts and revolutionary doctrine. Brand understands that he is a part of the escalating resistance against the British Mandate, but the nature of his role and the larger scope of the mission remain hidden from him. As the story progresses, he finds himself embroiled in increasingly dangerous and far-ranging missions, and it soon becomes clear that he is hurtling inescapably toward an action that could change history. Although Brand remains in the dark about the specifics, any reader familiar with the history of Mandatory Palestine will soon recognize the event toward which the novel’s arc accelerates.
One of Brand’s jobs as a driver is to chauffer Eva, another cell member, to her assignations. Eva, like Brand a survivor who lost everyone during the Holocaust, works as a prostitute in order to glean information from the British.
Both Eva and Brand hide their pasts and fight attachment, but soon, despite his agonizing guilt for betraying his wife’s memory, Brand falls in love. “For all its confusion, love divined the truth. At bottom the heart was honest. Questioned long enough, it gave up its secrets, no matter how complicated or how painful.” He understands that her part in the resistance and her knowledge of the coming action are larger than his, yet he still strives to protect her as he failed to protect his wife and family.
Through Brand’s character, O’Nan explores the deeper moral conflicts that arose in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Like many survivors, Brand tries to escape his past and construct a new life and a new identity, but his past keeps circling back to him, and he is haunted by his inaction. “In the camps he’d learned to stand and watch. It saved his life and made him useless. If he’d come here to change, he needed to do better.” For him, change means fighting with the Haganah to establish the nation of his people. And yet, taking action also has its consequences, as Brand soon learns. By nature “a lover of sunsets and protector of the weak,” he must learn to be ruthless; he must learn to kill. But he can’t get used to the idea. When Eva accuses him of wanting, “a revolution without bloodshed,” he responds that no, what he wants is a revolution that is “just.” In the end, he will understand that the price of justice is indeed grave.
In his introductory letter to the reader, O’Nan quotes David Lynch: “It’s people in trouble, at night, with a little bit of wind and the right kind of music.” It’s an old story—yes—but in City of Secrets, it has been made new. It is a novel to be read quickly the first time because it is difficult to put down. Afterward, it becomes a novel to read again and again because each time, the labyrinth of Jerusalem streets will offer up a new gem.
In his new novel, City of Secrets, Stewart O’Nan spins a tale of espionage and intrigue as richly layered and complex as the city it portrays, 1946 Jerusalem during the British Mandate. Like the city of Casablanca portrayed in the 1942 Michael Curtiz eponymous film—and indeed there are many thematic similarities—Jerusalem is a place where no one is who he claims to be, spies are everywhere, and the characters are players moving toward a larger and dangerous purpose about which most of them can only guess. “The city was a puzzle box built of symbols, a confusion of old and new . . . everyone seemed to be in costume, reenacting the miraculous past.” Also like Casablanca, Jerusalem is teeming with refugees. Here, they have either fled the violence and anti-Semitism that culminated in the Holocaust or, like Brand, the novel’s protagonist, have arrived as survivors, their old homes gone, their old lives destroyed.
Brand is a Jew from Riga, Latvia who survived because he “was lucky” and could “fix an engine.” His parents, sister, and wife were not so lucky; the Germans herded them into the forest and shot them. Following the British White Paper of 1939, Jewish immigration to Palestine was severely restricted and then became illegal in 1944, and so Brand, like most survivors, was smuggled in on a ship operated by Jewish resistance organizations, in his case the Haganah, of which he soon became a member. “Like so many refugees, he drove a taxi, provided by the underground. His new name was Jossi. His job was to listen – again lucky, since as a prisoner he had years of experience.”
In O’Nan’s hands, the landscape of the city and the country beyond take on a vivid and cinematic richness involving all the senses. The reader wanders with Brand through the confusing constructions of gates, walls, and narrow, dark streets that was Jerusalem, hearing the wind and driving rain, tantalized by the steamy aromas of the coffee souks, catching the strains of jazz standards that rise above the static on Brand’s cheap radio as he and Eva dance across the floor in her flat. O’Nan states that the Jerusalem of 1946 is “long gone,” rendering modern guidebooks and maps useless. The Jewish Quarter of which he writes was destroyed, and many of the old neighborhoods have been bulldozed. He had to find maps and guidebooks from the time, many of which were “riddled with inconsistencies.” In the end, he used the lack of information to his authorial advantage. “This way, the author, the character, and the reader are all learning at the same time, trying to navigate the physical and political labyrinth of post-war Jerusalem.”
The story opens at the time when the Haganah, which had been opposed to violent tactics, has joined forces with the Irgun, an organization known for its terrorist acts and revolutionary doctrine. Brand understands that he is a part of the escalating resistance against the British Mandate, but the nature of his role and the larger scope of the mission remain hidden from him. As the story progresses, he finds himself embroiled in increasingly dangerous and far-ranging missions, and it soon becomes clear that he is hurtling inescapably toward an action that could change history. Although Brand remains in the dark about the specifics, any reader familiar with the history of Mandatory Palestine will soon recognize the event toward which the novel’s arc accelerates.
One of Brand’s jobs as a driver is to chauffer Eva, another cell member, to her assignations. Eva, like Brand a survivor who lost everyone during the Holocaust, works as a prostitute in order to glean information from the British.
Both Eva and Brand hide their pasts and fight attachment, but soon, despite his agonizing guilt for betraying his wife’s memory, Brand falls in love. “For all its confusion, love divined the truth. At bottom the heart was honest. Questioned long enough, it gave up its secrets, no matter how complicated or how painful.” He understands that her part in the resistance and her knowledge of the coming action are larger than his, yet he still strives to protect her as he failed to protect his wife and family.
Through Brand’s character, O’Nan explores the deeper moral conflicts that arose in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Like many survivors, Brand tries to escape his past and construct a new life and a new identity, but his past keeps circling back to him, and he is haunted by his inaction. “In the camps he’d learned to stand and watch. It saved his life and made him useless. If he’d come here to change, he needed to do better.” For him, change means fighting with the Haganah to establish the nation of his people. And yet, taking action also has its consequences, as Brand soon learns. By nature “a lover of sunsets and protector of the weak,” he must learn to be ruthless; he must learn to kill. But he can’t get used to the idea. When Eva accuses him of wanting, “a revolution without bloodshed,” he responds that no, what he wants is a revolution that is “just.” In the end, he will understand that the price of justice is indeed grave.
In his introductory letter to the reader, O’Nan quotes David Lynch: “It’s people in trouble, at night, with a little bit of wind and the right kind of music.” It’s an old story—yes—but in City of Secrets, it has been made new. It is a novel to be read quickly the first time because it is difficult to put down. Afterward, it becomes a novel to read again and again because each time, the labyrinth of Jerusalem streets will offer up a new gem.
April 3, 2019
Authentischer Einblick in die Zeit des britischen Mandats und vor der israelischen Staatsgründung: Der Protagonist Brand wird dank seiner Verbindungen Taxifahrer in Jerusalem. Doch seine Kontakte wollen mehr von ihm als normale Taxifahrten und Brand wird nicht ganz freiwillig und dank seiner Freundin Eva Teil von Anschlägen der Hagana. Dabei bleibt Brand oft im Dunkeln und das spiegelt sich auch in der Erzählweise wider. Leider aber auch mit wenig Informationen zu historischen Zusammenhängen und verwirrenden Routenbeschreibungen durch Jerusalem.
June 12, 2016
The Peripheral Terrorist
Jossi Jorgenen drives a Peugeot taxi around Jerusalem in 1946, mainly ferrying American tourists to the Christian sites. His name, papers, and even his taxi have been provided for him by the Haganah, the Jewish Defence Organization formed to protect Jewish settlers equally against Arab attack and unreasonable restrictions imposed by the British Mandate. His real name is Brand, a Latvian Holocaust survivor whose mechanical skills might prove useful. For although the Haganah is not an extremist organization, the members of Brand's cell become involved on occasion in actions of the Irgun, the guerrilla group run at the time by Menachem Begin. Over the course of this quite short novel, Brand will become play a part in some of these—a bombing here, a robbery there—until he finds himself on the fringes of a much larger operation that, if you believe the book jacket, would change history.
O'Nan is good at describing action. But he fails to explain the historical context sufficiently for the general reader. My scattered facts about the Haganah and the Irgun, for example, are things that I had to look up while trying to straighten out the confused events of the British Mandate. O'Nan tells you almost nothing, and throws in casual references to things like "The Hunting Season" (Google it) without explanation. If this were a thriller set in New York or Boston in the summer of 2001, in which a minor member of a terrorist organization gets involved in a variety of smallish operations clearly leading up to something big, you would have no doubt what that something big would be, especially as we approached September 11. That history-changing event of 1946 might be equally well-known to Jerusalemites and historians, but to the average reader it comes off as just another terrorist action whose purposes, methods, and results remain unclear even after the novel ends.
Just as the book lacks outer context, I feel its inner life could be a lot more convincing. Dawn, the middle volume of Elie Wiesel's Night Trilogy , which deals with the same period, is a lot less exciting as a novel, but it tackles straight on the central moral issue facing Zionist activists: whether the response of an eye for an eye, life for a life, or violence for violence can ever be justified. O'Nan goes part of the way there by summoning memories of the camps, and Brand's guilt at standing by while his best friend was kicked to death, but he hardly extends it to the larger picture. Mostly, he enters Brand's inner life through his feeling for a fellow cell-member named Eva. She is a former actress from Lithuania who, despite the scar marring her once-beautiful features, works constantly as a high-level escort, whether to obtain secrets for the organization or provide opportunities for blackmail. Brand himself does not work at these levels; his job is merely to chauffeur Eva around. But although she is more than a decade his senior, he falls in love with her. Alas, I never fully believed in their relationship. But I do see how its awkwardness might play on Brand's insecurities and his growing feeling of being a mere pawn in an operation larger than he can understand. Indeed, that might be O'Nan's point: that Brand is a man on the periphery of both events and moral reckoning, an occasional participant, but really just a lost soul looking to belong. It is a good point if so, but it makes a curiously unsatisfactory novel.
Jossi Jorgenen drives a Peugeot taxi around Jerusalem in 1946, mainly ferrying American tourists to the Christian sites. His name, papers, and even his taxi have been provided for him by the Haganah, the Jewish Defence Organization formed to protect Jewish settlers equally against Arab attack and unreasonable restrictions imposed by the British Mandate. His real name is Brand, a Latvian Holocaust survivor whose mechanical skills might prove useful. For although the Haganah is not an extremist organization, the members of Brand's cell become involved on occasion in actions of the Irgun, the guerrilla group run at the time by Menachem Begin. Over the course of this quite short novel, Brand will become play a part in some of these—a bombing here, a robbery there—until he finds himself on the fringes of a much larger operation that, if you believe the book jacket, would change history.
O'Nan is good at describing action. But he fails to explain the historical context sufficiently for the general reader. My scattered facts about the Haganah and the Irgun, for example, are things that I had to look up while trying to straighten out the confused events of the British Mandate. O'Nan tells you almost nothing, and throws in casual references to things like "The Hunting Season" (Google it) without explanation. If this were a thriller set in New York or Boston in the summer of 2001, in which a minor member of a terrorist organization gets involved in a variety of smallish operations clearly leading up to something big, you would have no doubt what that something big would be, especially as we approached September 11. That history-changing event of 1946 might be equally well-known to Jerusalemites and historians, but to the average reader it comes off as just another terrorist action whose purposes, methods, and results remain unclear even after the novel ends.
Just as the book lacks outer context, I feel its inner life could be a lot more convincing. Dawn, the middle volume of Elie Wiesel's Night Trilogy , which deals with the same period, is a lot less exciting as a novel, but it tackles straight on the central moral issue facing Zionist activists: whether the response of an eye for an eye, life for a life, or violence for violence can ever be justified. O'Nan goes part of the way there by summoning memories of the camps, and Brand's guilt at standing by while his best friend was kicked to death, but he hardly extends it to the larger picture. Mostly, he enters Brand's inner life through his feeling for a fellow cell-member named Eva. She is a former actress from Lithuania who, despite the scar marring her once-beautiful features, works constantly as a high-level escort, whether to obtain secrets for the organization or provide opportunities for blackmail. Brand himself does not work at these levels; his job is merely to chauffeur Eva around. But although she is more than a decade his senior, he falls in love with her. Alas, I never fully believed in their relationship. But I do see how its awkwardness might play on Brand's insecurities and his growing feeling of being a mere pawn in an operation larger than he can understand. Indeed, that might be O'Nan's point: that Brand is a man on the periphery of both events and moral reckoning, an occasional participant, but really just a lost soul looking to belong. It is a good point if so, but it makes a curiously unsatisfactory novel.
August 17, 2017
-Excellent review in today's (4/24/16) Boston Sunday Globe. I am eager to read this.
**********************************************
I have read and enjoyed many of this author's offerings, but this seems to differ because it is a fact based novel. It mirrors the life of the main character, Brand and the struggles prior to the birth of the state of Israel. He is a Latvian victim of the Russians, the Holocaust and then a prisoner of the Russians again. After the loss of his entire family and settling in Palestine, he survived by imagination, driving a cab, spying and involvement with underground resistance.
O'Nan clearly utilized extensive research to portray the pictures of ancient history, more modern periods and a travelogue. The characters in this story and the tangential residents of the area are easily visualized. Although he is not identified as such, he described many Jewish religious practices in fine detail.
“He'd confused religion and emotion, the universal and the personal. With no one to confide in, the excitement he'd felt seemed private and suspect,...-except he had been delivered out of this last Egypt, along with a million and a half others, and the fact that he was here,now, among thousands of them, wasn't luck or chance but history. He was free. What he did now was up to him, so while he did not run out and join the nearest temple, he felt renewed... "(p.121)
This slim offering is intriguing and suspenseful, an admirable effort of O'Nan's.
**********************************************
I have read and enjoyed many of this author's offerings, but this seems to differ because it is a fact based novel. It mirrors the life of the main character, Brand and the struggles prior to the birth of the state of Israel. He is a Latvian victim of the Russians, the Holocaust and then a prisoner of the Russians again. After the loss of his entire family and settling in Palestine, he survived by imagination, driving a cab, spying and involvement with underground resistance.
O'Nan clearly utilized extensive research to portray the pictures of ancient history, more modern periods and a travelogue. The characters in this story and the tangential residents of the area are easily visualized. Although he is not identified as such, he described many Jewish religious practices in fine detail.
“He'd confused religion and emotion, the universal and the personal. With no one to confide in, the excitement he'd felt seemed private and suspect,...-except he had been delivered out of this last Egypt, along with a million and a half others, and the fact that he was here,now, among thousands of them, wasn't luck or chance but history. He was free. What he did now was up to him, so while he did not run out and join the nearest temple, he felt renewed... "(p.121)
This slim offering is intriguing and suspenseful, an admirable effort of O'Nan's.
November 2, 2016
What a sad, unpleasant book to read.
It has a great setting/factual background—the underground struggle to form the new nation of Israel after WWII. (SPOILER ALERT) It has great potential action—blowing up RR tracks, cutting a suspected traitor’s throat, and blowing up the King David Hotel. It has characters with great potential—the cell members, including Asher and Eva; the lovely blonde; the British officers.
But the main character, Brand, is too passive to carry the story. He wants to die, yet doesn’t have the courage to make that happen. He wants to tell Eva he loves her, but is afraid to lose her. He sits passively, agonizing outside in his taxicab while Eva has sex with strangers to gather information for the underground.
Everything eats away at him—his past, the danger, his love for Eva, the things Eva does. It’s pathetic—I felt sorry for Brand—but it is not fun or exciting to read. The action that could be exciting is rendered obliquely, in a limited point of view, and is not thrilling or even very interesting. The way the story is told mitigates against excitement.
This is an anti-thriller. Too bad; the author wasted a good topic.
It has a great setting/factual background—the underground struggle to form the new nation of Israel after WWII. (SPOILER ALERT) It has great potential action—blowing up RR tracks, cutting a suspected traitor’s throat, and blowing up the King David Hotel. It has characters with great potential—the cell members, including Asher and Eva; the lovely blonde; the British officers.
But the main character, Brand, is too passive to carry the story. He wants to die, yet doesn’t have the courage to make that happen. He wants to tell Eva he loves her, but is afraid to lose her. He sits passively, agonizing outside in his taxicab while Eva has sex with strangers to gather information for the underground.
Everything eats away at him—his past, the danger, his love for Eva, the things Eva does. It’s pathetic—I felt sorry for Brand—but it is not fun or exciting to read. The action that could be exciting is rendered obliquely, in a limited point of view, and is not thrilling or even very interesting. The way the story is told mitigates against excitement.
This is an anti-thriller. Too bad; the author wasted a good topic.
June 20, 2016
This is my 5th book to read by Stewart O'Nan. I loved the first four. However, this one did not do it for me, which is surprising because I am quite interested in WWII and its aftermath. The novel is set in Palestine during the final years of the British Mandate. (Israel would become a nation in 1948.) It depicts insurgent efforts by the Mossad and Irgun against the occupying British forces. For some reason, I found it confusing. I could not keep the characters and their allegiances straight. Perhaps that was an intentional literary device to mirror what life was like in Palestine at the time.
February 4, 2017
This book - which is a pleasure to read - tells part of the story of post-war Jeruzalem. How Jeruzalem became the ultimate destination of many Jews who had survived the atrocities of the Holocaust. How they had to fight for 'their' Israël, first of all against the British, and then against the Palestinians. How some of them became 'terrorists', either out of their free will, or out against their will...
This book is about the battle of one man, who is balancing between what he considers as good and evil, against the background of horrible camp memories. A book that lingers on in your mind for some days...
This book is about the battle of one man, who is balancing between what he considers as good and evil, against the background of horrible camp memories. A book that lingers on in your mind for some days...
April 14, 2016
I received this book for free in exchange for a review. I had a hard time following it and stayed lost throughout most of the book. I didn't really get a read on any of the characters. I didn't care about them or what happened to them and sometimes I would get confused about who was who. This author has potential but may need to explain things in a little more detail in order to not lose their readers.
July 28, 2016
I think I'm going to have to accept that O'Nan isn't for me. This attempt at a political historical thriller was too boring to make it through. I found myself skimming, waiting for Brand to get his crap together so I could give a damn about him. I gave up this quest about 80 pages in.
September 1, 2017
I think I was searching my local library's holdings for the word "labyrinth", but whatever I was doing, this popped up. Blessedly short, I decided to read it.
I almost always praise brevity, but this one maybe overdoes it. The first few pages gives the reader a whirlwind tour of the protagonist's backstory: Brand is the only survivor among his family of the Holocaust. Now he finds himself in Palestine, working as a cab driver under orders of a militant wing of the Jewish resistance to the British Mandate.
Let's not hesitate to call Brand a terrorist. The branch of the independence movement to which he belongs is not the most violent, but they find themselves reluctant allies to those who are willing to blow up cars and buildings in places where "collateral damage" is likely to occur. (Brand's group tends to prefer robbing trains or blowing up bridges, acts more likely to get no one killed.)
Brand's grief is still fresh, and he finds himself drawn to a co-conspirator, a woman damaged in body and soul, who aides the resistance by working as a call girl for high British officials--a doomed love if there ever was one. Brand is a man always walking next to a cliff of despair, and that mood sets the tone for the whole book. Were it not so short, I think it would have worn me down.
As it is, the book offers no glib plot twists, no easy redemption for Brand. That's why what redemption he finds (it is only a very little) comes as such a shock. It's a tricky thing, describing that moment when Brand catches a tiny glimpse of a higher world where goodness and peace and love reign, and it might not have come off. I think Stewart O'Nan played it just about right.
This is an odd brief book, but a good one. As a bonus, it gives the reader a snapshot of a not very well known moment in history. I recommend it.
I almost always praise brevity, but this one maybe overdoes it. The first few pages gives the reader a whirlwind tour of the protagonist's backstory: Brand is the only survivor among his family of the Holocaust. Now he finds himself in Palestine, working as a cab driver under orders of a militant wing of the Jewish resistance to the British Mandate.
Let's not hesitate to call Brand a terrorist. The branch of the independence movement to which he belongs is not the most violent, but they find themselves reluctant allies to those who are willing to blow up cars and buildings in places where "collateral damage" is likely to occur. (Brand's group tends to prefer robbing trains or blowing up bridges, acts more likely to get no one killed.)
Brand's grief is still fresh, and he finds himself drawn to a co-conspirator, a woman damaged in body and soul, who aides the resistance by working as a call girl for high British officials--a doomed love if there ever was one. Brand is a man always walking next to a cliff of despair, and that mood sets the tone for the whole book. Were it not so short, I think it would have worn me down.
As it is, the book offers no glib plot twists, no easy redemption for Brand. That's why what redemption he finds (it is only a very little) comes as such a shock. It's a tricky thing, describing that moment when Brand catches a tiny glimpse of a higher world where goodness and peace and love reign, and it might not have come off. I think Stewart O'Nan played it just about right.
This is an odd brief book, but a good one. As a bonus, it gives the reader a snapshot of a not very well known moment in history. I recommend it.
October 30, 2018
Currently living in Jerusalem made this book far more meaning to me than it might otherwise have been. Historical fiction is a favorite genre of mine and this book follows a Jew who was released from the prisoner of war camps at the end of WWII and his journey to Palestine to start a new life. All those he loved and knew before the war, his wife, his sister and parents , are all gone and he is alone in the world. As he begins life again, he becomes involved, almost by accident, in an underground resistance movement against British rule in Palestine. The author examines his feelings and thoughts on many issues that a man in his position would wrestle with including guilt for having survived the war, loneliness, wondering if he is betraying his deceased wife by loving another woman, wondering if he is courageous as some in his cell tell him, or if he is actually a coward who never stood up to the Nazis in his camp. Later, within his cell of resistors, he is never quite sure who he can trust, or who truly trusts him. I thought the author did a wonderful job of character development and I appreciated his understanding of and portrayal of human nature at it's finest and at it's worst. I especially enjoyed reading this book because as the main character drives his taxi around Jerusalem, I can actually see these streets and places in my mind. It was similar when I had lived in Mississippi for eight years, I grew to love southern literature in a new way - recognizing places and phrases and feelings that come only with having lived in a place. To Kill A Mockingbird took on a whole new life for me after living in the South.
If you are interested in Jerusalem's ore recent history, this is a good read.
If you are interested in Jerusalem's ore recent history, this is a good read.
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August 20, 2022After WWII, many holocaust survivors tried to settle in Palestine. However, the British controlled the area, and to take up residence, many Jewish people turned to an underground organization to provide false names so they could find jobs and establish homes. That is the overarching setting for Stewart O’Nan’s historic fiction, City of Secrets. The lead character struggles with tremendous survivor’s guilt. Unease and restless agitation rise with each road block, each revelation. There’s a lot of purposeful ambiguity in the delivery of the action and the fleshing out of the characters, which adds to the feeling of checking over one’s shoulder, always on high alert. In honesty, I was extremely grateful for the author’s note at the end of the work, which clarified some points of a number of my questions.
December 19, 2020
Die Geschichte hinter dieser Geschichte war mit nahezu unbekannt / -bewusst.
Israel kurz nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg. Die britische Mandatsregierung greift hart gegen jüdische Imigranten / Flüchtlinge aus Europa durch.
Der Protagonist - selbst vor Nazis wie Russen aus dem Baltikum geflohen - bezieht hierbei Stellung indem er als Taxifahrer bei Anschlägen gegen die britischen Unterdrücker hilft.
Sinn und Unsinn von Terror, Recht und Unrecht von Systemen sowie ein wenig 007 im vorderen Orient machen diesen Roman aus.
Israel kurz nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg. Die britische Mandatsregierung greift hart gegen jüdische Imigranten / Flüchtlinge aus Europa durch.
Der Protagonist - selbst vor Nazis wie Russen aus dem Baltikum geflohen - bezieht hierbei Stellung indem er als Taxifahrer bei Anschlägen gegen die britischen Unterdrücker hilft.
Sinn und Unsinn von Terror, Recht und Unrecht von Systemen sowie ein wenig 007 im vorderen Orient machen diesen Roman aus.
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