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A review by td3
Eli's Promise: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson
4.0
I don’t think an author has ever captured my attention in the first chapter quite like this one. Ronald H. Balson’s description of General Patton’s 6th Armored Division’s rescue of prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp so accurately conveyed the shock of the American soldiers as they discovered the horrors of the camp.
One prisoner the soldiers rescued was Eli Rosen, a man near death, who insisted they find his son Isaak, who was also in the camp. After reuniting, Eli and Isaak were driven away from the camp in Red Cross vehicles.
Balson tells the story of Eli Rosen in three distinct timelines. In 1939, we see a happy and prosperous Rosen family until the Germans invade Poland and they gradually realize that their very existence is being threatened. In 1946, we find Eli and his son living in a displaced person’s camp while searching for the whereabouts of Esther, their wife and mother. In 1965, we find Eli in Albany Park, Chicago. Why Albany Park? Eli is there to fulfill a promise he made, seeking justice for a Nazi sympathizer and con man who has evaded arrest for years.
This was a different approach to a World War II novel because it focused less on the camps and more on the corruption that existed during the war years. Some citizens exploited the Jewish people in the worst ways at a time when they so desperately needed help.
This was a very interesting novel and I can see why it won the National Jewish Book Award. I highly recommend this one to those who like historical fiction and World War II novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance release and give my honest review.
One prisoner the soldiers rescued was Eli Rosen, a man near death, who insisted they find his son Isaak, who was also in the camp. After reuniting, Eli and Isaak were driven away from the camp in Red Cross vehicles.
Balson tells the story of Eli Rosen in three distinct timelines. In 1939, we see a happy and prosperous Rosen family until the Germans invade Poland and they gradually realize that their very existence is being threatened. In 1946, we find Eli and his son living in a displaced person’s camp while searching for the whereabouts of Esther, their wife and mother. In 1965, we find Eli in Albany Park, Chicago. Why Albany Park? Eli is there to fulfill a promise he made, seeking justice for a Nazi sympathizer and con man who has evaded arrest for years.
This was a different approach to a World War II novel because it focused less on the camps and more on the corruption that existed during the war years. Some citizens exploited the Jewish people in the worst ways at a time when they so desperately needed help.
This was a very interesting novel and I can see why it won the National Jewish Book Award. I highly recommend this one to those who like historical fiction and World War II novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance release and give my honest review.