Finding Rebecca Discussion

[Ken]

Thinking about whether I liked the book or not I concluded that I did and I think that's a problem. It was a well-paced fairly easy read, but what does that say about a novel that uses the horrors and tragedy of the holocaust as its backdrop and overarching antagonist?

The novel didn't match the intensity of the event or the context it was attempting to portray. There certainly were scenes that depicted abject brutality but I took them as matter-of-fact events. I don't think this is because I lacked sensitivity or compassion as a reader, but more because I was never really drawn into the world of suffering that the concentration camps must have imposed. Nor did I really connect with the characters.

Christopher's plight, probably because he got the most face time as protagonist, felt the most real. Rebecca never felt real to me. Rebecca's positive character qualities: strength, survivor, loving person, were told or alluded to which I think weakened the effect. It would have been more impactful and created more of a connection with her if we were taken into the scenes in real time rather than a retelling.

There was one scene that I thought was touching and brought Rebecca to life. It was after she and Christopher had first met. He brings her home and tries to hide her upstairs, but she bumps into something causing a crash that brings everyone upstairs:

"She was sitting in the middle of the floor, Christopher's mother's pearls hanging around her neck and one of her hats almost covering her eyes completely. Christopher grimaced as he saw her."

Sometimes it's the little things (in real time) that make a character endearing.

The dialogue, for the most part, was stilted, formal and in some places, awkward. The scenes toward the end with Christopher and Rebecca walking the streets of NYC and catching up felt flat to me. It sounded like Rebecca was merely recycling her lines with a slightly different phrasing.

I thought the dialogue from the scenes in the camp were done much better than the scenes set in Jersey. Almost felt like two different authors wrote this book.

For a debut novel, I offer kudos. However, given the subject matter, I expected this to be a tough book to read. A good book (or one tackling this subject) should create a shift in you and leave you thinking about its effect. I was left with neither.