I found Trudi's personal story less interesting than those of her neighbors. The systematic dehumanization of the Jewish population through Trudi's eyes is well-told. It doesn't feel like a fictionalized account. The horror of how the war made people turn against eachother, even against their own family members, or how people just disappeared never to be heard from again, is unforgettable.
One passage made such an impression I went through half of the book to find it again:
' "I wish they'd make up their minds," Michael Abramowitz said to Leo when he bought his pipe tobacco. "Is Hedwig a witch or a Jew?"
"Why not both? The more labels they find for her, the more justified they can feel in what they're doing."
"Labels..." '
With this kind of wisdom and insight in her fiction, Ursula Hegi is an author I look forward to reading more from.
One passage made such an impression I went through half of the book to find it again:
' "I wish they'd make up their minds," Michael Abramowitz said to Leo when he bought his pipe tobacco. "Is Hedwig a witch or a Jew?"
"Why not both? The more labels they find for her, the more justified they can feel in what they're doing."
"Labels..." '
With this kind of wisdom and insight in her fiction, Ursula Hegi is an author I look forward to reading more from.
