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Ausubel, Ramona
Adult Fiction AUSUBEL
From Publishers' Weekly:
Ausubel's debut novel about survival and storytelling begins in 1939 as nine Jewish families that make up the northern Romanian village of Zalischik decide-as war threatens to consume all of Europe-to "start over" by retreating into an imaginary, alternative history and remaking their world. Aided by a mysterious pogrom survivor who appears in their village, these families reinvent themselves, reassigning relationships, occupations, even ages, believing against reason that this new version of events will keep them safe, for, they hope, "this world is about hope more than events." At the center of the effort and the novel is Lena, the 11-year-old daughter of the village cabbage farmer, who must maintain the thread of narrative even as she is adopted by her aunt and uncle, married to the banker's unlucky son, Igor, and becomes a mother. When the outside world finally intrudes on the village idyll, Lena must accept that her duty is "to survive to tell what happens," and she sets out on a journey that will deprive her of everything but her will to keep telling. Despite hints of beauty and meaning, the novel's combination of magical realism and traumatic history feels forced, undermining its theme of the power of storytelling. Agent: Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
From Library Journal:
In 1939 in an obscure Jewish village in Romania, a woman washes up on the shore of the river, the only survivor of a brutal attack that destroyed her family. The villagers take her in, but her story brings the reality of war to them. What if they could create a new world, one without death and destruction? Through stories, they begin speaking their new world into existence. Young Lena is most affected by this creation; casting aside preconceived rules, her childless aunt and uncle decide that she should be their daughter because her parents have three children. Further transformations take place when the banker decides his son should marry Lena and start a family. As Lena questions her identity, the village continues to live in committed isolation until enemy soldiers arrive. During the hardships suffered by the survivors, the power of story keeps them and their families alive even if only in memory. VERDICT Debut novelist Ausubel has written a riveting, otherworldly story about an all-too-real war and the transformative power of community. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 8/8/11.]-Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Ausubel, Ramona
Adult Fiction AUSUBEL
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From Publishers' Weekly:
Ausubel's debut novel about survival and storytelling begins in 1939 as nine Jewish families that make up the northern Romanian village of Zalischik decide-as war threatens to consume all of Europe-to "start over" by retreating into an imaginary, alternative history and remaking their world. Aided by a mysterious pogrom survivor who appears in their village, these families reinvent themselves, reassigning relationships, occupations, even ages, believing against reason that this new version of events will keep them safe, for, they hope, "this world is about hope more than events." At the center of the effort and the novel is Lena, the 11-year-old daughter of the village cabbage farmer, who must maintain the thread of narrative even as she is adopted by her aunt and uncle, married to the banker's unlucky son, Igor, and becomes a mother. When the outside world finally intrudes on the village idyll, Lena must accept that her duty is "to survive to tell what happens," and she sets out on a journey that will deprive her of everything but her will to keep telling. Despite hints of beauty and meaning, the novel's combination of magical realism and traumatic history feels forced, undermining its theme of the power of storytelling. Agent: Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
From Library Journal:
In 1939 in an obscure Jewish village in Romania, a woman washes up on the shore of the river, the only survivor of a brutal attack that destroyed her family. The villagers take her in, but her story brings the reality of war to them. What if they could create a new world, one without death and destruction? Through stories, they begin speaking their new world into existence. Young Lena is most affected by this creation; casting aside preconceived rules, her childless aunt and uncle decide that she should be their daughter because her parents have three children. Further transformations take place when the banker decides his son should marry Lena and start a family. As Lena questions her identity, the village continues to live in committed isolation until enemy soldiers arrive. During the hardships suffered by the survivors, the power of story keeps them and their families alive even if only in memory. VERDICT Debut novelist Ausubel has written a riveting, otherworldly story about an all-too-real war and the transformative power of community. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 8/8/11.]-Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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