The Light After The War by Anita Abriel
The Light After The War is a lesson in life:
how to continue through tragedy, heartache, guilt, and sometimes continuing to mean that you have to do it over and over again.
Publisher's summary:
"Inspired by an incredible true story of two Jewish friends who survived the Holocaust, this sweeping novel of love and friendship spans World War II from Budapest to Austria and the postwar years from Naples to Caracas, perfect for fans of The German Girl and We Were the Lucky Ones.
It is 1946 when Vera Frankel and her best friend Edith Ban arrive in Naples. Refugees from Hungary, they managed to escape from a train headed for Auschwitz and spent the rest of the war hiding on an Austrian farm. Now, the two young women must start new lives abroad. Armed with a letter of recommendation from an American officer, Vera finds work at the United States embassy where she falls in love with Captain Anton Wight.
But as Vera and Edith grapple with the aftermath of the war, so too does Anton, and when he suddenly disappears, Vera is forced to change course. Their quest for a better life takes Vera and Edith from Naples to Ellis Island to Caracas as they start careers, reunite with old friends, and rebuild their lives after a terrible loss.
Moving, evocative, and compelling, this timely tale of true friendship, love, and survival will stay with you long after you turn the final page."
Although this book is told through a narrative that tells instead of shows the lessons that are learned are poignant.
Vera's mother-in-law, Alessandra Albee, a strong, independent woman who lectures at the local University, but knows that Venezuelan men expect certain behaviors from their wives, teaches Vera a very important lesson when she first meets Vera.
Do you know what the most important human trait is? It is not Piety, as our Catholic priests would wish; it's not honesty or even loyalty. It is empathy. If we don't have empathy for others, we are finished. How can we learn empathy without studying history and geography and Literature?"
Empathy is not a normal virtue in most people's lives. Usually, it is either something you are born with or something you can learn if you are willing to let life show you the beauty of each human being. Not everyone will ever learn to be empathetic. Most live selfish lives with only thoughts of what life can give them. This might be because they aren't being stretched through hardship and struggle as people did during WWII. Life is much easier when there is prosperity.
Vera lives an empathetic life. She observes everything around her, she sees that life can have meaning and that you can add meaning to other's lives too. Most of The Light After The War comes from her interactions with others she encounters in the four years that she is wandering with Edith trying to find a life that gives meaning to both of them.
Vera meets Rabbi Gorem after she learns her parents are alive and they arrive in Venezuela. He plays chess with her father, Lawrence, and provides Vera with a spirituality that Vera hasn't had while trying to find meaning in her life after being pushed off the train to Auschwitz. I personally believe that combined with Alessandra's lesson on empathy and this lesson from Rabbi Gorem, there is hope that the world will never repeat the atrocities that happened during WWII if we keep teaching what happened to all generations after ours.
In Judaism we take the study of the soul very seriously. God could not create the soul in everyone equally. Some people are born with Souls that reach for the light like buds in spring. For others it's more difficult to seek true meaning, their thoughts get in the way.
But God makes sure no one's life is for nothing. Every Jew who died in the camps left behind something: a piece of music or a poem or a new idea."
Anton, Vera's first love (and boss,) Anton while on a trip to Capri teaches her about the light that can be found even during darkness.
During the Roman Empire, Tiberius built twelve villas in Anacapri... He ruled the most important empire on earth from this spot. After the Roman Empire fell, civilization went dark. For centuries the world revolved around war and disease and death. But now we have the Sistine Chapel and the Louvre. We have Shakespeare and Dante and Proust. Symphonies perform Mozart and Beethoven, and museums display Rembrandt and Monet. Europe will recover from Hitler's atrocities, and a new crop of artists and philosophers will emerge. No one man can wipe out truth and beauty. Human beings were born to create great things, and they will do so again."
I truly believe that "not one man can wipe out truth and beauty". That is paramount to remember, especially during times where people believe that a dictator or a president can destroy the fabric of their lives. Hitler's ideas and values devastated and killed millions of innocent lives. Survivor's had guilt, they mourned, they pushed on to live how they could. Some decided they could push on even in the concentration camps because the Germans couldn't take their thoughts and their prayers away even if they took everything else.
Like the sun coming through the clouds even after a devastating storm there is brightness and light if only we look for it and add to it.
Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books and Anita Abriel for the opportunity to read The Light After The War in lieu of my honest review.
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