The Light After the War

October 28, 2019
Abriel’s muddled debut, based on her mother’s life, centers on two Jewish-Hungarian refugees as they make their way across the world during and after WWII. Best friends Vera Frankel and Edith Ban miraculously escape a train taking them to Auschwitz in 1944. After hiding on an Austrian farm to see out the war, the girls arrive in Naples, Italy, in 1947 and attempt to find work. Vera is hired as a secretary for dashing American officer Anton Wight, who she instantly falls for, though she tries hide her feelings. When Anton disappears, Vera and Edith decide to leave Italy and begin anew once again. They are turned away at Ellis Island, but find refuge in Caracas, Venezuela, where Vera works as a copy editor and Edith chases her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Vera is soon romanced by successful but volatile businessman Ricardo Albee, but she finds it difficult to move on from her love for Anton and her traumatic past. The backdrop of 1940s Naples and Caracas is refreshing if inconsistently researched (including an improbable trip to Venezuela’s Angel Falls), and the characters’ wartime experiences and their search for a place to carve out a new home give the plot poignancy. Yet the novel as a whole is disappointingly flat: Vera’s insights are often pat, and most characters’ motivations remain inscrutable. Despite a promising premise, this underdeveloped tale fails to live up to its potential. Agent: Johanna Castillo, Writers House.

December 1, 2019
Having escaped from a train headed to Auschwitz, Vera and Edith, two young Hungarian women, mourn their parents as well as Edith's fiance, all likely lost to the Holocaust. Can they forge new lives in the postwar world? After surviving the war by working on a farm, Vera and Edith realize their hometown of Budapest holds little promise. Fortuitously, a kind American officer sends them to Naples with a letter recommending Vera to the embassy. Once there, Vera, who is fluent in five languages, readily secures a job as secretary to Capt. Anton Wight, an American officer at the embassy. She's intent upon taking care of Edith, who's looking for male attention, which she finds with Marcus, a photographer ready to sweep her away dancing and maybe into social ruin. But it's Vera who falls in love first, with the dashing Capt. Wight, who treats her to dinner dates and gifts. Although Vera tells Anton about her experiences during the war, including her guilt over surviving while her family presumably perished in the gas chambers, her attraction to him quickly outweighs any lingering trauma. However, Anton's struggles with his own past derail their romance, plunging Vera into more heartache as her path traverses the globe. The romance between Vera and Capt. Wight is, unfortunately, much too easy, beginning with its inevitable whirlwind courtship. Publishing for the first time under her birth name, Abriel (Christmas in Vermont, 2019, etc., written as Anita Hughes) was inspired by her mother's life, and she deftly sketches the postwar world from Naples to Venezuela and Australia, with attention paid to the changed architectural and emotional landscapes. The rubble of bombed cities, the blank map of lost relatives, and the uncertainty of day-to-day survival outline the anguish of the lost generation. A predictable romance tempers the energy of this tale about the healing powers of love.

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February 1, 2020

DEBUT Based on the true story of her mother's life, Abriel's first novel, set during and immediately following World War II, is moving and captivating. Vera and Edith, Jewish teenagers in Budapest, narrowly escape from the cattle car headed to Auschwitz. Believing that their parents and Edith's true love, Stephan, were killed in labor camps, the best friends hide out on an Austrian farm until the war ends. The 19-year-old girls then start new lives in Naples. Vera, who dreams of being a playwright, begins a secretarial job at the American Embassy, working for Capt. Anton Wight, son of a wealthy American hotel chain owner. Vera and Anton quickly fall in love, allowing Vera a bit of happiness after so much loss. Yearning to be a famous designer, Edith sews dresses while mourning Stephan. After Anton disappears, Vera and Edith move to Caracas, Venezuela, where Vera meets wealthy, handsome Ricardo and her life changes forever. VERDICT Fans of Marta Hall Kelley and Kristin Hannah will delight in this powerful tale of strong female friendship and second-chance romance set in picturesque Naples, Venezuela, and Australia.--Laura Jones, Indiana State Library

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January 1, 2020
Inspired by the author's family story, this historical novel follows two strong women in the aftermath of WWII. Vera Frankel and Edith Ban escape Auschwitz, find a place in Naples, and sail to America, only to be re-routed to Caracas, Venezuela. Together, the globe trotters survive by their wits and their beauty as one finds love and another passion for fashion which place them in the high society circles of the wealthy and connected. Vera finds romance at the United States embassy where Captain Anton Wight struggles to help rebuild Europe, while Edith struggles to carry on after the love of her life is assumed dead. Peppered throughout the story of their ups and downs are many stories of Jewish families who were reconnected by sheer chance, or faced the years after the war with darkness. Uplifting and sweeping, with a fast pace and accurate depiction of war-torn realities, Vera's love story is full of pain and hope while Edith's determination to make her way in fashion is rousing. This title is a good pick for book clubs clamoring for dramatic historical fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)