A Stairwell in Lodz

by Constance Cappel

A Stairwell in Lodz is the complex and moving story of three women set in 1994 in the transitional period of Polish history, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Although they live in separate apartments off of a common stairwell in a Soviet-style bloc building, they know little of each other´s secrets. They pass each other daily, yet misjudge and apply stereotypes to each of their lives, their past, and their true selves. Set in the former ghetto of Lodz,the large industrial city in central Poland, the main characters live in the shadow of the history of Lodz, and more specifically the horrors of the Lodz Ghetto. Few people in Lodz wish to talk or remember what happened in the Lodz Ghetto, unlike the Warsaw Uprising. In A Stairwell in Lodz through both the factual accounts and in the novel part, the reader learns why.

282 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2004

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story written from the perspective of several of the characters which means events were often described from various viewpoints, which I enjoyed. Interspersed with the story were excerpts from documents and writings about the WWII treatment of the Jews, also written from different points of view. The "factual interludes" (from the Acknowledgements) provided a parallel and contrast to the characters trying to find their own peace in an era which should have offered hope and new opportunities but was still stumbling in the shadows of deception and mistrust. The descriptions of a mid-l990s Lodz were excellent. Most of the characters were well-described. One of my favorite lines: "All of the sitting women waiting for the bus looked like brown sparrows on the bench." I loved the friendship between Ania and Malgosia. What was a bit distracting was that the editing was lacking; misspelled words and misplaced commas, which I excused because I liked the book.
Note: The print in this paperback, which is not a mass market version, is small and the font is not easy to read.