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A Novel
by David R. Gillham
Book Reviewed by:A captivating novel of a Berlin girl on the run from the guilt of her past and the boy from Brooklyn who loves her.
1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz's Deli, new-fangled TVs. But in the Perlman's walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron.
But this child of Berlin and daughter of an artist cannot seem to outrun her guilt in the role of American housewife, not until she can shed the ghosts of her past. And when Uncle Fritz discovers, in a dreary midtown pawn shop, the most shocking portrait that her mother had ever painted, Rachel's memories begin to terrorize her, forcing her to face the choices she made to stay alive―choices that might be her undoing.
From the cafes of war-torn Germany to the frantic drumbeat of 1950s Manhattan, Shadows of Berlin dramatically explores survival, redemption and the way we learn to love and forgive across impossible divides.
Gillham expertly unfolds this tale in increments, keeping his audience spellbound until Rachel's full history is laid bare. Although the third-person account is told entirely from Rachel's perspective, Aaron is illuminated through her observations of him, and the author's ability to imbue this character with so much nuance is remarkable. Shadows of Berlin is an excellent exploration of survivor's guilt, as well as a brilliant portrayal of a marriage reaching a breaking point. I highly recommend it for most audiences, particularly those interested in Jewish culture in the United States after WWII...continued
Full Review
(672 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
In David R. Gillham's Shadows of Berlin, the protagonist's mother was a modern artist whose work was banned by the Hitler Regime.
Adolf Hitler didn't originally intend to have a career in politics, planning instead to be a professional artist. In 1907 at the age of 18, he applied to Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts, but was rejected — twice. Still, he was able to make a reliable living selling his paintings to tourists before leaving for Munich in 1913, where he worked on commission for several wealthy patrons. The dismissal of his work by Austria's artistic elite struck a nerve, though, and their refusal to take his paintings seriously had consequences the art world never could have foreseen.
Over the ensuing decades, Hitler came...
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David Gillham has written a deeply moving story about an aspect of the Holocaust that few people know about - how thousands of survivors came to New York City to restart their lives and escape demons from the past. But some have a hard time dealing with the guilt, shame, and anger caused by the terrible experience. Gillham paints a vivid picture of their life in post-war New York while imaginatively linking it to their ordeal in wartime Berlin.
