The Lost Wife, by Alyson Richmon

This bittersweet story is takes place during the Holocaust, where two young lovers are torn apart because they are Jewish. It is a story of young romance, loss, and profound emotional horror. It was one of those stories where I was so attached to the characters and did not want to read another page because of the horror of what was happening to them; yet I was so addicted to this book that I could not put it down.

The story begins at the end, and as it progresses, the chapters jump around on the timeline. They alternate between the points of view of Josef and Lenka, the two main characters. At times, I thought it was creative, but sometimes difficult to jump between events in the chronology.
Richman does a fantastic job using language and romanticizing certain themes throughout the book. One theme that I enjoyed most and could identify with was the concept of young love. The characters wonder if it was a fantasy and wanted to keep it to themselves, like only they were invited to a secret world to be happy and safe. As the plot progresses this concept fades away into loneliness and loss. However, Richman still finds a way to beautify this concept. At points throughout the story, Josef explains the visions of people he has. He says when you dream, love ones come to visit, but the horrors come when you are awake. Richman found a way to make a situation so foreign to the reader seem familiar so they can identify with it.

The only disappointment that I found with this book was the ending. I believe that it stops at a crucial point in the story and I long to know what happens to them afterwards.

Favorite Quotes:

"A different Lenka was emerging, one that existed as two halves- one half wanted to feel alive, to feel happy, to saturate myself in the feelings of first love- but the other half was full of dread." (p. 78)  

"She always told us there were two types of women. Those who are lit from the outside and those who are lit from within. The first needs the shimmer of a diamond to make her sparkle, but for the other, her beauty is iluminated through the sheer light of her soul." (p. 37)

"I love my children like a tiger. I love my wife like a lamb." (p. 69)

Night by Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel came to my high school, probably around the year 1998. After listening to his speech with us, I made a silent vow to myself to read Night. It took me near fifteen years to work up the courage to read it. I feel that reviewing this memoir would be a disservice. Instead, all I would like to say is that this book made me thankful for all things, even the mundance, it made me cry, and it made me wish I had the courage to write something so profound... and thankful that I don't have anything as profound to write about.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

I have long wanted to read the story of Harriet Jacobs. Reading, The Help, was the final push that needed to pick up this book. Harriet Jacobs was a slave during the early to mid nineteenth century. She told her story to an abolitionist woman who wrote it down. The audience was directed toward white, northern women. Also like the help, the realtionship between black and white omwne, was inherent throughout the text. Although there is speculation as to how true Jacobs' story is, I find that it brought up excellent lessons about slave life that could have happened to any slave during this time, regardless of whether it happened to Jacobs or not.

Some of Harriet's duties reminded me of the duties that women in The Help still had to perform. However, the consequences were much more servere. "It was necessary that a servant should sleep in the same room, to be on hand if the child stirred." Harriet was always meant to be with Mrs. Flint and her children. Harriet's own children took a back seat. They should not be raised together under any circumstances. It amazes me how much strength Jacobs had, in order to do what she does to set her own children free (which I won't mention as a spoiler). Overall, I could not imagine wishing that my own child were dead instead of being a slave, as Harriet did.

I thought it was interesting how her appearance, aside from her skin tone, afflicted her. Harriet hated a dress given to her by her mistress, Mrs. Flint. She hated it because "It was one of the badges of slavery." Mr. Flint also cut all of her hair off as a punishment, to show that she as a disobedient person.

Central to the text was also her and her family's feelings on slavery. William, her brother said, "...he did not mind the smart of the whip, but he did not like the idea of being whipped." He did not like being property. Harriet repeatedly said that she did not want to be conquered. She refused to be someone's property. Even in the end when she achieves her freedom, she looks at the bill of sale with mixed feelings. She is grateful for her freedom, but it disgusts her that she has to have a piece of paper to prove it, especially when it is backed by money.

Slavery also brought power to whites who were even low on the socioeconomic status tier. She spoke that when a town was looking for a runaway, low whites were "exulted in such a chance to exercise a little brief authority, and show their subserviency to the slaveholders," (p.101). Priests told the slaves that they were sinners just by being born a slave. Constables also had coveted privileges. For example, if he found a slave out after nine o'clock, "he could whip him as much as he liked." (p. 166).

Overally, the lessons in this book were extraordinary. It was definitely a wonderful, somber read with a triumphant end.

Favorite Quotes:
"I was born a slave; but I never knew still six years of happy childhood had passed away," (p. 36).

"I would ten thousand times rather that my children should be the half-starved paupers of Ireland than to be the most pampered among the slaves of America." (p. 63)

"I forgot that in the land of my birth the shadows are too close for light to penetrate." (p. 71)

"That poor, ignorant woman thought that America was governed by a Queen, to whom the President was subordinate. I wish the President was subordinate to Queen of Justice."

"It seemed as if I were born to bring sorrow on all who befriended me, and that was the bitterest drop in the bitter cup of my life." (p. 147)

The Slave Dancer

The Slave Dancer is a story about a young 13 year old boy, Jessie, who lives in New Orleans during the slave trade era. Jessie is kidnapped and brought to a slave ship heading to Africa. His job is to play music for the slaves so that they will dance. This measure was taken to help them slow the process of muscle deterioration while in severely cramped quarters on board.

The Slave Dancer is one of those books that definitely brings truth to the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." I originally purchased this book for a young adult literature class and never read it. The reason I was reluctant was because it has a young, jovial boy playing the fife on the cover. I thought, "How can this realistically illustrate the horrors of the slave trade?" Reading the novel proved that there can be a delicate balance between historical horror and young adult literature.

The story tactifully included many details about sailing on a slave boat. There were well developed sailing characters, that captured the life of a working class sailor. It discussed the moral dilemmas they had with their job and justified why they made their decisions to work on the ship. It also captured the relationships that American and European countries had with slavery and the fight to abolish it. In fact, the most horrific ending had to do with their willingness to do anything in order to save their own freedom from punishment of illegally participating in slave catpure.

I would recommend this book to both adults and young adults who are interested in learning the details of the slave trade. It does not hold back, and tactifully causes tears instead of screams.