3.5 Stars
Considering
what is happening in the United States right now (eg. Muslim ban), this book is
a very appropriate read. It visits
historical events including the sailing of the SS St. Louis with its refugees
who were denied entry into several countries and died as a result.
The book
alternates chapters between two narrators.
One is Hannah Rosenthal in 1939 Berlin.
She and the rest of her Jewish family flee Nazi Germany by setting sail
on a ship for Havana. Unfortunately, the
Cuban government changes the rules and the vast majority of refugees are not
allowed to disembark. The second
narrator is Anna Rosen who lives in New York with her mother. Anna receives a package of photos from her
father’s aunt in Havana, and Anna convinces her mother to travel to Cuba so she
can learn more about her father who died on 9/11.
There are many
parallels between Hannah and Anna: at
the beginning, both are pre-teens with an interest in photography; they both
have absent fathers whom they idolize; their mothers are emotionally damaged
women who hide in their rooms; and both are friendless except for boys who are
very attached to them. There are so many
similarities between Hannah and Anna that the plot feels contrived. The maudlin ending also adds to this
impression.
The
two-week trip across the Atlantic is one of the most interesting episodes in
the book. What surprised me was that the
crossing was a happy journey thanks to the captain, Gustav Schröder, who insisted
his passengers be treated with dignity as if they were privileged tourists. The contrast with what the passengers have
experienced in Germany and what awaits them is contrasted with the time spent
on the ship where gourmet meals are served and concerts and dances are
held. For the reader, of course, there
is considerable suspense especially if he/she is aware of what happens at the
end of “the voyage of the damned.” Will the
people Hannah loves be among the few that were allowed to disembark?
The novel
sheds light on the sailing of the SS St. Louis, a significant event in
Holocaust history. The photos at the end
reinforce that, though the book is fiction, it is based on real events.
The book
also suggests that history tends to be repeated. The Rosenthals must hand over their home and
possessions to the Nazis; later, Hannah must hand over her business to the
communist Cuban government. As a young
girl, Hannah is parted from a childhood friend because of politics and, as an
adult, is parted from another loved one because of politics. Under Fidel Castro's communist regime,
Jehovah's Witnesses were considered "social deviants" and were sent
to labour camps to be "re-educated".
In the novel, the nephew of the Rosen’s maid is sent to a work camp
where a sign at the entrance reads “Work will make men of you” like the sign at
Auschwitz which read “Work will set you free.”
We have
probably all heard that people who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. That is the warning of this book. In a time of opposition to a specific religion
and restrictions on people of that religion, we need to be reminded of the
consequences of closed borders. Substitute “Muslim” for “Jew” and “plane” for “ship”
and the similarities between history and the present are inescapable. As a
work of fiction, this book is not flawless, but its message needs to be heard.
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