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The Ghost Keeper
Winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Fiction Winner of the HarperCollins Publishers/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction, this powerful, sweeping novel, set in Vienna during the 1930s and ’40s, centres on a poignant love story—and a friendship that ends in betrayal.
360 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2018
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January 2, 2020
What a good way to end 2019!
There are none so powerless as the dead, and I believe one must in some way show mercy to memories as much as to bones. (Part 1, Chapter 1)
So we are told by our main protagonist, Josef Tobiak, as he tells us about his Vienna in the 1930's and 1940's. The Ghost Keeper , the 2018 debut novel of Canadian writer, Natalie Morrill, brings to life the Austrian victims of the Holocaust and the survivors who returned to Vienna after the war. It is the love story of Josef and his wife, Anna. It is the story of regular everyday people who believed that England and France would not stand by and let Hitler's army just march into Austria. Yet as Josef relates in between the domestic life and arrival of a son, Austrian crowds cheer the arrival of the German army, embrace the new laws, and flags with swastikas fly from their buildings proudly. And the world does stand by.
And one must try to lay such a history down with delicacy - moreover, with justice, but compassion also. Here is the man that saved us, and here also are the things he did. And one must set them down and stare into them until the heart can accept them as truth, and ask all its questions, and see the souls behind them no less human than they were before--if it's possible, if we can be such creatures in this life. (Chapter 4)
Josef and his family are able to flee -Anna and their son to Shanghai and Josef to America, thanks to an old family friend, a Gentile, who despite his membership to the Nazi party, helps them escape. After the war, Josef returns to Vienna and reunites with his friend. But as Josef begins the process of healing and the rebuilding of community, there is one final secret that cannot remain hidden for much longer.
If I can put in a request for perfect justice, if you'll listen to me, if it counts for anything, this is what my heart demands: When we die, that we would know each other human person perfectly, in every detail, every fear, every minute victory of courage and every act regretted. That we would see each other's lives, and know one another's minds, better than we could ever know our own in this life. (Chapter 13, Part 2)
Reading this on the heels of completing The Dutch Wife, I must confess that it was the voice of Josef and his emotional and ethical struggles that sway me to crown this final book of 2019 with a 5 star. But let me also be clear that both books are fantastic and deserve their own place on the shelf. I read a lot of historical fiction and I have to say that I also liked that there was no dual narrative or timeline. Just one character unfolding the story.
My 381st pick of 2019 was a great way to end a fantastic reading year.
Goodreads review published 02/01/20
There are none so powerless as the dead, and I believe one must in some way show mercy to memories as much as to bones. (Part 1, Chapter 1)
So we are told by our main protagonist, Josef Tobiak, as he tells us about his Vienna in the 1930's and 1940's. The Ghost Keeper , the 2018 debut novel of Canadian writer, Natalie Morrill, brings to life the Austrian victims of the Holocaust and the survivors who returned to Vienna after the war. It is the love story of Josef and his wife, Anna. It is the story of regular everyday people who believed that England and France would not stand by and let Hitler's army just march into Austria. Yet as Josef relates in between the domestic life and arrival of a son, Austrian crowds cheer the arrival of the German army, embrace the new laws, and flags with swastikas fly from their buildings proudly. And the world does stand by.
And one must try to lay such a history down with delicacy - moreover, with justice, but compassion also. Here is the man that saved us, and here also are the things he did. And one must set them down and stare into them until the heart can accept them as truth, and ask all its questions, and see the souls behind them no less human than they were before--if it's possible, if we can be such creatures in this life. (Chapter 4)
Josef and his family are able to flee -Anna and their son to Shanghai and Josef to America, thanks to an old family friend, a Gentile, who despite his membership to the Nazi party, helps them escape. After the war, Josef returns to Vienna and reunites with his friend. But as Josef begins the process of healing and the rebuilding of community, there is one final secret that cannot remain hidden for much longer.
If I can put in a request for perfect justice, if you'll listen to me, if it counts for anything, this is what my heart demands: When we die, that we would know each other human person perfectly, in every detail, every fear, every minute victory of courage and every act regretted. That we would see each other's lives, and know one another's minds, better than we could ever know our own in this life. (Chapter 13, Part 2)
Reading this on the heels of completing The Dutch Wife, I must confess that it was the voice of Josef and his emotional and ethical struggles that sway me to crown this final book of 2019 with a 5 star. But let me also be clear that both books are fantastic and deserve their own place on the shelf. I read a lot of historical fiction and I have to say that I also liked that there was no dual narrative or timeline. Just one character unfolding the story.
My 381st pick of 2019 was a great way to end a fantastic reading year.
Goodreads review published 02/01/20
August 16, 2019
'“We act as if the world still worked the way our minds do, but it doesn't." His forehead hardens as he speaks. "Perhaps it never did.”'― Natalie Morrill, The Ghost Keeper
My local library system has a romance genre sticker on this book. And the cover definitely has that "I'm a romance novel" design about it. But "The Ghost Keeper" is not that. Yes, there is a romantic relationship, but the focus is more on questions of friendship and making the reader ask 'What would I have done?' in the situations of Morrill's well-drawn characters - some Jewish, some Gentile - amidst the horror of the Holocaust, Nazism and WWII. Would I have resisted? What would I have done to survive? What lines might I cross? What could I have withstood? If I survived, how would I be haunted? Who and what could I forgive?
I enjoyed the integration of a Jewish folktale into the novel; the presence of an historic cemetery; the contemplation of memory; and the storytelling style, with protagonist Josef going over decades with both poignancy and tentativeness, switching tenses, trying to look at the past, himself and loved ones with courage and compassion, to navigate the light and dark sides of communities and individuals. And the writing. Some of my favourite sentences:
“All around us is the great noisy world of people, but in my heart there is stillness and a light, and I am a lamp cupped in my sister's hand, a warm bright hidden light.”
“I hate the sound of eating when I’m not hungry, when no one is shouting or shushing and it feels as if the food is just there to fill people’s mouths and bury the things waiting to be said.”
“I feel as if a conversation has begun; but although I sense that I have meet someone's eyes and smiled, the first word is still hanging over us and I can't seem to remember who it is I'm talking to.”
“But she laughs, and she makes me laugh, and when she smiles at me I'm a balloon on a string.”
I look forward to reading more from Natalie Morrill.
My local library system has a romance genre sticker on this book. And the cover definitely has that "I'm a romance novel" design about it. But "The Ghost Keeper" is not that. Yes, there is a romantic relationship, but the focus is more on questions of friendship and making the reader ask 'What would I have done?' in the situations of Morrill's well-drawn characters - some Jewish, some Gentile - amidst the horror of the Holocaust, Nazism and WWII. Would I have resisted? What would I have done to survive? What lines might I cross? What could I have withstood? If I survived, how would I be haunted? Who and what could I forgive?
I enjoyed the integration of a Jewish folktale into the novel; the presence of an historic cemetery; the contemplation of memory; and the storytelling style, with protagonist Josef going over decades with both poignancy and tentativeness, switching tenses, trying to look at the past, himself and loved ones with courage and compassion, to navigate the light and dark sides of communities and individuals. And the writing. Some of my favourite sentences:
“All around us is the great noisy world of people, but in my heart there is stillness and a light, and I am a lamp cupped in my sister's hand, a warm bright hidden light.”
“I hate the sound of eating when I’m not hungry, when no one is shouting or shushing and it feels as if the food is just there to fill people’s mouths and bury the things waiting to be said.”
“I feel as if a conversation has begun; but although I sense that I have meet someone's eyes and smiled, the first word is still hanging over us and I can't seem to remember who it is I'm talking to.”
“But she laughs, and she makes me laugh, and when she smiles at me I'm a balloon on a string.”
I look forward to reading more from Natalie Morrill.
June 29, 2018
It’s hard to know where to start, with The Ghost Keeper. It’s not incorrect to say it’s a story about a man in Vienna, during the Second World War, who looks after the graveyards. But that’s not really the important part. It’s not the heart of the story.
This is a story about relationships – about the bonds between families and friends. It’s about making hard choices, and how you live with the consequences after.
Josef Tobak is a Jewish man, living in Vienna. And his story is very much about living his life. He doesn’t necessarily begin or continue in chronological order, his memories jumping back and forth between the pages. But certain aspects stick out. How he meets and falls in love with his wife, Anna, is one of them; their love is a piece that holds throughout the entire story. His friendship with Friedrich Zimmel is another.
”This is 1933, and for me that is what 1933 is: the year I fell in love with Anna. It is also the year, of course, that in Germany the National Socialist Party is declared the only legal party, but at the time it feels so unreal; I have to make myself remember it now.”
This is what it means to live in a historically significant time – hindsight is what gives it significance. When Josef is busy with his life, his wife, his son, and their friends, what do Germany’s problems mean to them?
It does not stay that way; it can’t. The Anschluss makes it impossible. This is where Friedrich’s position becomes complicated. He joins the Party, allows his company to fire all the Jewish workers, yet finds work for Josef, and later for his relative. He helps Josef’s wife and son escape to China and hides Josef in his house while he’s too ill to travel. He toes the Party line, but helps Josef escape to New York. Later in the war, he keeps Josef’s cousin hidden in his attic – but this too is a complicated situation, and not what it seems.
” ‘One could simply accept the worst, in the silence. Or one could hope for the best, but resist responsibility. And in between…’ Now he shrugs and looks at me. ‘There, I think, is the hardest choice, perhaps.’ “
It is years later that these tangled threads come back together in Vienna, as first Josef, and later his surviving family, makes their way back to Vienna, to face what has happened in their absence. Friedrich is guilty as a Party member, and now it is Josef’s word that keeps him safe, absolves him of his crimes. But Josef is not yet fully aware of everything that has happened.
And the truth of what happened during the war is not something Friedrich can live with, not without confessing all to Josef first. And while Josef may not know what has happened, he knows it was terrible, and knows he himself bears some responsibility, and is not sure he wants to confront his friend. Some things cannot be put off forever.
“One doesn’t dare turn around, unless it is to confront it all plainly: What? I might ask. What, after all this? Here I am. Tell me, what?”
The language Natalie writes with is beautiful. I stopped reading several times just to turn over phrases in my mind, savour the way they felt, or the images they invoked. Sometime it were things I’ve felt before but never have seen put into words:
”There are a lot of things I don’t tell my friends, many things beautiful or frightening – these I carry inside, like coins in my pocket that only my own fingertips know.”
If I quoted every part that struck me as lovely or thought provoking, over half the book would be written down.
Josef himself speaks with such a strong voice – not like he is someone I know, but as though he is someone I would recognize on sight, or at his first word, having simply heard him through the pages. Despite trying to slow myself down, I still read it fairly fast. I’ll return to it later, when it’s less fresh in my mind, and go through it slowly, taking in all that I missed earlier.
This is a story about relationships – about the bonds between families and friends. It’s about making hard choices, and how you live with the consequences after.
Josef Tobak is a Jewish man, living in Vienna. And his story is very much about living his life. He doesn’t necessarily begin or continue in chronological order, his memories jumping back and forth between the pages. But certain aspects stick out. How he meets and falls in love with his wife, Anna, is one of them; their love is a piece that holds throughout the entire story. His friendship with Friedrich Zimmel is another.
”This is 1933, and for me that is what 1933 is: the year I fell in love with Anna. It is also the year, of course, that in Germany the National Socialist Party is declared the only legal party, but at the time it feels so unreal; I have to make myself remember it now.”
This is what it means to live in a historically significant time – hindsight is what gives it significance. When Josef is busy with his life, his wife, his son, and their friends, what do Germany’s problems mean to them?
It does not stay that way; it can’t. The Anschluss makes it impossible. This is where Friedrich’s position becomes complicated. He joins the Party, allows his company to fire all the Jewish workers, yet finds work for Josef, and later for his relative. He helps Josef’s wife and son escape to China and hides Josef in his house while he’s too ill to travel. He toes the Party line, but helps Josef escape to New York. Later in the war, he keeps Josef’s cousin hidden in his attic – but this too is a complicated situation, and not what it seems.
” ‘One could simply accept the worst, in the silence. Or one could hope for the best, but resist responsibility. And in between…’ Now he shrugs and looks at me. ‘There, I think, is the hardest choice, perhaps.’ “
It is years later that these tangled threads come back together in Vienna, as first Josef, and later his surviving family, makes their way back to Vienna, to face what has happened in their absence. Friedrich is guilty as a Party member, and now it is Josef’s word that keeps him safe, absolves him of his crimes. But Josef is not yet fully aware of everything that has happened.
And the truth of what happened during the war is not something Friedrich can live with, not without confessing all to Josef first. And while Josef may not know what has happened, he knows it was terrible, and knows he himself bears some responsibility, and is not sure he wants to confront his friend. Some things cannot be put off forever.
“One doesn’t dare turn around, unless it is to confront it all plainly: What? I might ask. What, after all this? Here I am. Tell me, what?”
The language Natalie writes with is beautiful. I stopped reading several times just to turn over phrases in my mind, savour the way they felt, or the images they invoked. Sometime it were things I’ve felt before but never have seen put into words:
”There are a lot of things I don’t tell my friends, many things beautiful or frightening – these I carry inside, like coins in my pocket that only my own fingertips know.”
If I quoted every part that struck me as lovely or thought provoking, over half the book would be written down.
Josef himself speaks with such a strong voice – not like he is someone I know, but as though he is someone I would recognize on sight, or at his first word, having simply heard him through the pages. Despite trying to slow myself down, I still read it fairly fast. I’ll return to it later, when it’s less fresh in my mind, and go through it slowly, taking in all that I missed earlier.
May 15, 2024
Very disappointed in this book as a WRM pick. This is not a book that’s still going to be read in a 100 years - like maybe there’s a reason it was out of print. While I do appreciate that it provided a unique perspective of WW2 (which is a feat amidst the sea of WW2 novels), the writing just wasn’t great. I also didn’t like the way certain heavy topics were handled. Not only was it unnecessarily graphic, but it didn’t feel true to the narrative voice either. If I wasn’t reading for book club, this book would have gone on my DNF list.
May 27, 2019
This review is a difficult one to write because I feel really torn about this book. I was really excited to read it and I wanted to absolutely love it, but I found it hard to get through and that ultimately affected the way I felt about it at the end. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either. That said, I would still (someday) re-read the book now that I know better what to expect of it, in the hopes that I might enjoy it more a second time around.
"The Ghost Keeper" is a beautifully told story, but it can also be (in my opinion) a really difficult, frustrating read. There are passages in the novel that are written in gorgeous prose, yet the narrative point of view jumps around so much that it's hard, by times, to figure out who is speaking. I found myself having to backtrack more than once to get back on track (sometimes it's Josef in 1st person; sometimes it's Josef talking about himself in 3rd person, from a distance; sometimes it's Josef talking about himself in 3rd person but not from a distance, etc…). I think some of this back and forth may be intentional on the part of the author, because it seems to be indicative of the character's state of mind (which, if true, is really clever and shows strong writing skills), but nonetheless I found that it made reading the book for any significant period of time hard. I'll admit that there were days I didn't pick up the book at all because I simply didn't want to put in the effort required to try and follow the story line.
Add to this the fact that the story is (small spoiler alert) quite an unhappy one. It was a tough read emotionally, even for WWII-era historical fiction. And, finally, I found myself repeatedly irritated with the protagonist's lack of drive and perseverance. He constantly talks about what he should do or could do, but then he is never quite ready to actually do those things. Sometimes I wanted to just scream at him "oh would you do it already! Be brave!". Every time I felt this with him, though, I found I'd stop and say to myself "but think of all he's going through; you don't know how you'd react in his situation" (see, torn!).
All of this said, there were some parts of the story that I found truly fascinating. I found Friedrich's part of the story really compelling and interesting (sad, also, I won't lie), and I really wished that I could learn more about him as a character. I would have loved to have read a whole story from his perspective. There was a brief section in Part III (about 1-2 chapters) where we learn about Friedrich's life during the war and it is heartbreaking, but so captivating. It was probably the first time in the book where I really didn't want to put the book down. I also loved the character of Anna; she has such lovely, quiet strength and courage, and I was disappointed that she didn't really feature more in the story. I would have enjoyed hearing more of her story too, and of her life while she was away.
Despite my mixed feelings about the book, I think it is a really important one - a story that makes wartime seem really personal and highlights (although I'm sure it only touches the surface) some of the loneliness and loss and shock that so many families must have experienced at that time. This is one of the first novels about WWII that I have read that focused specifically on the experience of being Jewish in a country taken over by Germany, and in that respect I found it to be an interesting read. Considering this, I can also see why it is so sad and emotionally difficult to get through - it may only scratch the surface of how difficult it must have been to be in those shoes at that time in history, but it still shows you some of the devastation those individuals must have lived through.
I'd say that if you like historical fiction and you do not feel daunted by a challenging read, you might like to read this one. It is a heavy, sad story (punctuated with a few happy, meaningful moments nonetheless), so be ready for a read that will make you feel sad (sometimes really sad). Know that bad things will happen to characters you like (and just in general, really), and that there are not really any happy endings. However, at the end of the book, you'll feel a little more grateful for your own life and all of the freedoms and luxuries you have, which I think makes this tough read worth the effort.
"The Ghost Keeper" is a beautifully told story, but it can also be (in my opinion) a really difficult, frustrating read. There are passages in the novel that are written in gorgeous prose, yet the narrative point of view jumps around so much that it's hard, by times, to figure out who is speaking. I found myself having to backtrack more than once to get back on track (sometimes it's Josef in 1st person; sometimes it's Josef talking about himself in 3rd person, from a distance; sometimes it's Josef talking about himself in 3rd person but not from a distance, etc…). I think some of this back and forth may be intentional on the part of the author, because it seems to be indicative of the character's state of mind (which, if true, is really clever and shows strong writing skills), but nonetheless I found that it made reading the book for any significant period of time hard. I'll admit that there were days I didn't pick up the book at all because I simply didn't want to put in the effort required to try and follow the story line.
Add to this the fact that the story is (small spoiler alert) quite an unhappy one. It was a tough read emotionally, even for WWII-era historical fiction. And, finally, I found myself repeatedly irritated with the protagonist's lack of drive and perseverance. He constantly talks about what he should do or could do, but then he is never quite ready to actually do those things. Sometimes I wanted to just scream at him "oh would you do it already! Be brave!". Every time I felt this with him, though, I found I'd stop and say to myself "but think of all he's going through; you don't know how you'd react in his situation" (see, torn!).
All of this said, there were some parts of the story that I found truly fascinating. I found Friedrich's part of the story really compelling and interesting (sad, also, I won't lie), and I really wished that I could learn more about him as a character. I would have loved to have read a whole story from his perspective. There was a brief section in Part III (about 1-2 chapters) where we learn about Friedrich's life during the war and it is heartbreaking, but so captivating. It was probably the first time in the book where I really didn't want to put the book down. I also loved the character of Anna; she has such lovely, quiet strength and courage, and I was disappointed that she didn't really feature more in the story. I would have enjoyed hearing more of her story too, and of her life while she was away.
Despite my mixed feelings about the book, I think it is a really important one - a story that makes wartime seem really personal and highlights (although I'm sure it only touches the surface) some of the loneliness and loss and shock that so many families must have experienced at that time. This is one of the first novels about WWII that I have read that focused specifically on the experience of being Jewish in a country taken over by Germany, and in that respect I found it to be an interesting read. Considering this, I can also see why it is so sad and emotionally difficult to get through - it may only scratch the surface of how difficult it must have been to be in those shoes at that time in history, but it still shows you some of the devastation those individuals must have lived through.
I'd say that if you like historical fiction and you do not feel daunted by a challenging read, you might like to read this one. It is a heavy, sad story (punctuated with a few happy, meaningful moments nonetheless), so be ready for a read that will make you feel sad (sometimes really sad). Know that bad things will happen to characters you like (and just in general, really), and that there are not really any happy endings. However, at the end of the book, you'll feel a little more grateful for your own life and all of the freedoms and luxuries you have, which I think makes this tough read worth the effort.
April 8, 2025
Really hard to know how to rate this book. I liked the writing. I understood why the tense changed, because there were things in the main character’s memory that he wanted to distance himself from, that to him didn’t seem real. And yet, at times it felt tedious to get through.
I did feel the author’s attempts to capture Jewish religious practice and experience, as a Christian, occasionally didn’t ring true. It seemed she was expressing Christian mystical experiences through a Jewish lens, or trying to illuminate Jewish mystical experiences with a Christian subtext. This was a fairly small complaint however.
As I watch people around me currently spiraling into extreme antisemitism (2024), the parallels between this era and current events are rather disturbing. As it turns out, there is no “never again” and antisemitism is the most ancient of hatreds. It boggles my mind. So reading this book at this time in history has been hard.
Finally—I would not have read this at all, especially since I’m pregnant myself, had I known about the stillbirth scene and how the entire unfolding of the characters would hinge on it.
I did feel the author’s attempts to capture Jewish religious practice and experience, as a Christian, occasionally didn’t ring true. It seemed she was expressing Christian mystical experiences through a Jewish lens, or trying to illuminate Jewish mystical experiences with a Christian subtext. This was a fairly small complaint however.
As I watch people around me currently spiraling into extreme antisemitism (2024), the parallels between this era and current events are rather disturbing. As it turns out, there is no “never again” and antisemitism is the most ancient of hatreds. It boggles my mind. So reading this book at this time in history has been hard.
Finally—I would not have read this at all, especially since I’m pregnant myself, had I known about the stillbirth scene and how the entire unfolding of the characters would hinge on it.
June 7, 2018
That was fascinating. There are tense switches that would be ill advised under a different writer but it works very well here. Josef is a character possessing an integrity and forgiveness that seems boundless. This is a very tender, quiet, and engrossing read. Historical fiction fans take note!
August 29, 2019
Totally dreary with an odd disjointed writing style that jumped about and was nothing more than random boring ramblings with zero cohesiveness and, 50 pages in, no character development at all.
January 13, 2020
What an incredibly beautiful book.
July 14, 2018
It was a good story, sad, but rather slow. Felt like there could have been more to it, so much going on in the world during that time but not much of that was really brought into the story. And so much outside the main characters personal ramblings was left with no real answers. Something about the writing style bothered me in a kind of ocd way at times it felt so fractured and all over the place, but the way the story is told I understand that's part of the intent (just was'nt a fan).
July 13, 2018
A beautifully written novel. The story winds in and out of time and requires careful concentration. Very nice.
February 28, 2022
DNF
Robert McKee once made an excellent point: many people have literary talent (the ability to write pretty sentences) but few have story talent.
The author has something of former and little of the latter. Her style is sometimes beautiful, sometimes cold and mechanic. There’s a distance perceived immediately between the words on the page and the character. Often, the words ring false, remote, dead.
A non-linear story can only be pulled off by a writer of exceptional talent and skill, and this was not displayed in this novel.
I could sum all this up in one sentence: this novel lacks voice.
As Marianne Satrapi put it, “Some books are like water on a duck; they don’t touch me at all. Very beautiful but what have I learned from that? Nothing.”
Robert McKee once made an excellent point: many people have literary talent (the ability to write pretty sentences) but few have story talent.
The author has something of former and little of the latter. Her style is sometimes beautiful, sometimes cold and mechanic. There’s a distance perceived immediately between the words on the page and the character. Often, the words ring false, remote, dead.
A non-linear story can only be pulled off by a writer of exceptional talent and skill, and this was not displayed in this novel.
I could sum all this up in one sentence: this novel lacks voice.
As Marianne Satrapi put it, “Some books are like water on a duck; they don’t touch me at all. Very beautiful but what have I learned from that? Nothing.”
December 9, 2018
Beautifully written! This story lingers in your mind, rich and fine. It has a flowing cadence that slowly builds to a horrifying climax. This is not a romance though there is a love story. This is not just a WW2 story, though it’s set during WW2. It’s more of a story about choices and questions and makes you ask yourself “what would I have done?” It’s a story of friendship, responsibility and forgiveness, loss and hope. It’s a story about surviving and what one does to do that. This book traces the gray areas of life. The fine lines. How good and bad is in us all. Very impressed with her style of writing, and character development. Highly recommend.
June 10, 2018
An absolutely stunning novel. I did not have any real expectations when I picked this novel up other than the author was Canadian and it was set in Vienna.
Since traveling through Europe last summer I have made it a goal to read various books based on places I visited-I could imagine the people and places mentioned so vividly-astonishing. It struck me as I travelled that the ghosts of the past still speak to those who will listen.
I will look forward to reading more from Ms. Morrill.
Since traveling through Europe last summer I have made it a goal to read various books based on places I visited-I could imagine the people and places mentioned so vividly-astonishing. It struck me as I travelled that the ghosts of the past still speak to those who will listen.
I will look forward to reading more from Ms. Morrill.
May 27, 2018
This is a beautiful book. Tender, insightful, deeply human, and deeply felt - I loved it.
May 17, 2024
Totally heart wrenching but also wistful and beautiful. There are some truly challenging things to read in here (as in most WW2 literature) but this book I think does a particularly good job at examining the grey areas of morality in the messiness of the war, from the perspective of this Jewish man who sees his friend battle (and often lose) with his conscience. Sad read, kind of relieved to be finished but it was good!
July 2, 2024
Very interested to discuss this with my book club. This is a heavy and sad book. It is very hard to comprehend what people went through during the nazi regime and to put myself in their shoes and wonder what I would have done myself. I did not prefer the writing style of this book but I do think the story is worth pondering.
July 15, 2018
Didn't finish ...toooo boring
February 23, 2019
Very slow and I couldn’t get into it. I gave up after about 30 pages which is very unusual for me. I really didn’t enjoy the writing style at all
May 2, 2024
A bit of a slow start, because the narrator Josef started out by being wishy-washy about how to start the story, and where in time to start since this book is not perfectly linear, and also one of the things that drove me bananas about this book was that the story frequently switches from first to third person, even though the only POV character is Josef.
And yet Josef redeems himself by being a beautifully quiet storyteller, and once I got past the halfway mark, I flew through this.
The description of this book covers most of the plot points - due to an illness when they are due to leave Austria due to the encroach of WWII, Josef and his wife and child are not able to stay together, escaping to opposite sides of the world (America for him, China for them), thanks to the help of his gentile friend Friedrich, who joins the Nazi party to keep up appearances while also secretly hiding Josef's distant cousin in his attic crawlspace.
And the content warnings below lay out the rest of the story, but none of it was a surprise to me.
I appreciated how one of the things he did in his spare time was care for two Jewish cemeteries, bearing witness to people he never knew and doing his best to hold their memories.
For a Holocaust book, it was quite different than anything I'd read before, and it was good.
CW: the Holocaust (antisemitism, death [mostly off-page], Nazis), statutory rape, stillbirth, suicide
And yet Josef redeems himself by being a beautifully quiet storyteller, and once I got past the halfway mark, I flew through this.
The description of this book covers most of the plot points - due to an illness when they are due to leave Austria due to the encroach of WWII, Josef and his wife and child are not able to stay together, escaping to opposite sides of the world (America for him, China for them), thanks to the help of his gentile friend Friedrich, who joins the Nazi party to keep up appearances while also secretly hiding Josef's distant cousin in his attic crawlspace.
And the content warnings below lay out the rest of the story, but none of it was a surprise to me.
I appreciated how one of the things he did in his spare time was care for two Jewish cemeteries, bearing witness to people he never knew and doing his best to hold their memories.
For a Holocaust book, it was quite different than anything I'd read before, and it was good.
CW: the Holocaust (antisemitism, death [mostly off-page], Nazis), statutory rape, stillbirth, suicide
May 23, 2024
My grandfather was ethnically a German Jew born during the time of the holocaust, though thankfully in New Jersey because both sides of him family had immigrated to the United States during the early 1900s. This has given me a great interest in holocaust history and I appreciate historical fiction that brings this era to do. I found this book interesting because it was the first book I read about a Jew emigrating to escape the holocaust. What an important perspective!
However, I didn’t love the book. I really wanted to. But it seemed a little flat. And slow? Maybe a little too poetic? Josef Tobak is much less practical than me. I’m much more type A, much less imaginative, and I had a hard time thinking real people thought like he did. (I’m sure some do, but it’s just so far outside my thought process.)
I also found the narrative tough, sometimes it’s written in first person and sometimes in third person. It’s not confusing but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
However, I didn’t love the book. I really wanted to. But it seemed a little flat. And slow? Maybe a little too poetic? Josef Tobak is much less practical than me. I’m much more type A, much less imaginative, and I had a hard time thinking real people thought like he did. (I’m sure some do, but it’s just so far outside my thought process.)
I also found the narrative tough, sometimes it’s written in first person and sometimes in third person. It’s not confusing but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
April 27, 2024
I was worried I wasn’t going to make it through. Reading about the injustices against Josef in 1938, the fear and hardship around his quarantine and having to say goodbye to his wife and son- it was hard for me to pull my heart out from the pit of my stomach in aching empathy, knowing that so many families had to go through this same experience (or the completely wrecking experience of never seeing any of their family again).
After the first part, I had to take a breather, then opened it again once more. I feel like what kept me going was a feeling that in order to honor the Jews’ of WWII lived experience, I should listen, no matter the difficult topic.
Many movies/books can point to the obvious atrocities of the Nazis- the unjust treatment, the murders of human brothers and sisters. But this book peels back the layers of mental and emotional trauma of years of turmoil and uncertainty. Even though Josef and his dearly beloved wife and son survived- living in foreign countries, apart, not knowing how each other were doing, missing out on years of his son’s childhood growth- it affected them in so many ways, and the experience will never leave them.
So so much grey- a friend who joins the party but also is able to export Josef and his family to safety. He oversees a munitions factory, but also hides a Jew in his home? He wishes his unborn child never was, but then asks Josef to give her a proper burial. Humans are such complex beings, thinkers, and doers. You are really able to sit in and feel all the muddled grey with Josef as he tries to wade through it in his mind.
You can see how the long years wear on everyone. One thing that I feel really hit home for me in this book was that love and a sense of belonging keep you going in life, especially your children. Children have an amazing ability to be adaptable and resilient. This book reminded me of the movie ‘Room’- where both Mom and son experience such horrors in captivity, but it is the son who ultimately is able to adapt to his new life and help his mom through the rocky adjustment back to ‘normal’ life.
And through it all, this string of the cemeteries and souls gone before that never truly leave Josef. That sense of home, and wanting to return and start a fresh even though terrible actions and destruction happened there. There is familiarity, and yet things will never be the same. But the cemeteries are still there.
Overall, very heavy book for me, but with the years spend after the war, this book gave me a lot to ponder and think about afterwards.
After the first part, I had to take a breather, then opened it again once more. I feel like what kept me going was a feeling that in order to honor the Jews’ of WWII lived experience, I should listen, no matter the difficult topic.
Many movies/books can point to the obvious atrocities of the Nazis- the unjust treatment, the murders of human brothers and sisters. But this book peels back the layers of mental and emotional trauma of years of turmoil and uncertainty. Even though Josef and his dearly beloved wife and son survived- living in foreign countries, apart, not knowing how each other were doing, missing out on years of his son’s childhood growth- it affected them in so many ways, and the experience will never leave them.
So so much grey- a friend who joins the party but also is able to export Josef and his family to safety. He oversees a munitions factory, but also hides a Jew in his home? He wishes his unborn child never was, but then asks Josef to give her a proper burial. Humans are such complex beings, thinkers, and doers. You are really able to sit in and feel all the muddled grey with Josef as he tries to wade through it in his mind.
You can see how the long years wear on everyone. One thing that I feel really hit home for me in this book was that love and a sense of belonging keep you going in life, especially your children. Children have an amazing ability to be adaptable and resilient. This book reminded me of the movie ‘Room’- where both Mom and son experience such horrors in captivity, but it is the son who ultimately is able to adapt to his new life and help his mom through the rocky adjustment back to ‘normal’ life.
And through it all, this string of the cemeteries and souls gone before that never truly leave Josef. That sense of home, and wanting to return and start a fresh even though terrible actions and destruction happened there. There is familiarity, and yet things will never be the same. But the cemeteries are still there.
Overall, very heavy book for me, but with the years spend after the war, this book gave me a lot to ponder and think about afterwards.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2018
Morrill's first full-length novel, set in Vienna during the Second World War, brings the modern reader straight into a faraway historical setting. The characters are relatable and so human! Morrill treats difficult subjects of life and death, suffering and forgiveness, and other even tougher issues, with a compassion, intelligence, and insightfulness that is quite rare. And her writing style is detailed, nuanced, and delightful! The novel captivates from start to end and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
May 3, 2024
Some tense issues. I understood that 3rd person may have been used to distance the narrator from certain events, but if that were so then why wasn’t it used when he went to bury Friedrich & Lena’s child?
Hardly any character development except for Friedrich. I would have liked to see more of the influence of Josef’s American exile and the repercussions of Anna + Tobias’ lives in China, beyond the superficial (naming the dog Peng / she makes stir fry once).
Josef is also perhaps the most uninteresting character in the book. I’d have preferred any of the other characters POVs (Anna, Lena, Friedrich, Zilla, or even Tobias).
Overall felt a bit more like a thought experiment than a real story with real people.
Hardly any character development except for Friedrich. I would have liked to see more of the influence of Josef’s American exile and the repercussions of Anna + Tobias’ lives in China, beyond the superficial (naming the dog Peng / she makes stir fry once).
Josef is also perhaps the most uninteresting character in the book. I’d have preferred any of the other characters POVs (Anna, Lena, Friedrich, Zilla, or even Tobias).
Overall felt a bit more like a thought experiment than a real story with real people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2024
A well written story set in Vienna in the days leading up to WW2 and the years after. While as expected, it dealt with some very intense and hard topics it was a great read. While some may be frustrated by the weaving story telling, especially in the early pages, I enjoyed that as something that made the story feel like someone was reflecting on and telling about these happenings in their life and the lives of those around them.
May 7, 2024
This book does such a good job at creating complex characters and relationships. Each pair is riddled with heartbreak, joy, and everything in between. Morrill writes so beautifully and with the utmost respect for the pain that is expressed in every character of the great losses felt during the war. I cannot recommend this book enough!
June 28, 2024
“It has become, since Lena came, easier to pray. I can recite Psalms as I did as a young man. It isn’t so much a feeling of being heard as a rootedness in prior knowing, and this like a stone foundation is, I think, a surer base than the transported feelings of my youth. In this confidence, and despite fear, I can come here with Tobias, scrape and dig a little.”
May 6, 2024
I am glad I read this for book club because I really need to talk to someone else about it. I appreciate that it’s a perspective from WWII that we see less. The way in which people survive and remember tragedy is painful throughout. I may go back and re-rate this post discussion, but for now I found it a poignant reminder of the dignity of all human life.
October 1, 2018
Such a beautifully written book! Many lines read like poetry. I was deeply moved by the story and characters. It was believable, heartbreaking, hopeful, beautiful, spiritual, and evocative - difficult to put down! Very much looking forward to more from this author.
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