Babylon Laid Waste
Reviews
It was a delight to read and experience this unique adventure, with its pathos, its heroics, its unconventional love story, all to the tune of an implied operatic soundtrack. I looked forward to it every time I sat down to read. I was fascinated by the settings—both the overall time and place and the individual settings the characters moved around in—as well as the narrative energy created by the mystery of where it was all going and where our heroine might end up. […]The story had twists and turns, a cast of interesting characters, and good changes of scene, all of which kept it moving forward. Bravo! You should be very proud of this tapestry of plotting and characterization you’ve woven.
— Carrie Cantor
— Carrie Cantor
Synopsis
Alerted by a letter from Berlin that her grandmother may be alive in a Jewish hospice there, Misia Safran, a former refugee living in New York, is determined to follow the lead and return to her native Germany. However, it is 1946 and the defeated Reich, under Allied control, is off-limits to civilian travel in or out. With the help of a people-smuggling ring, Misia manages to breach the fortress and enter with forged German identity papers under an assumed name. As her journey takes her ever deeper into the devastated enemy territory, she encounters an array of colorful, frequently shady characters ranging from victorious Americans, unrepentant Nazis, ordinary civilians, Jewish survivors, and washed-up Wagnerian opera stars; all of whom have an intriguing personal story to tell and private agenda to pursue.
When Misia runs afoul of the US military authorities, she meets her nemesis in the person of Major Emil Zweig. Since she lacks the crucial “Persilschein”—a denazification certificate—he sends her to a prison for female Nazi criminals. At this nadir of her ill-starred attempt to reach Berlin, a savior appears in the person of an enigmatic Jewish survivor who calls himself Frantiçek Kafka. Impelled by the romantic attraction sprouting between them, Misia embarks with him on a whirlwind search for a pair of Nazis. In the course of a rollercoaster ride of many unforeseen emotional ups and downs, she becomes a major player of a drama in which nothing and no one is what appearances suggest or pretend reality to be.
When Misia runs afoul of the US military authorities, she meets her nemesis in the person of Major Emil Zweig. Since she lacks the crucial “Persilschein”—a denazification certificate—he sends her to a prison for female Nazi criminals. At this nadir of her ill-starred attempt to reach Berlin, a savior appears in the person of an enigmatic Jewish survivor who calls himself Frantiçek Kafka. Impelled by the romantic attraction sprouting between them, Misia embarks with him on a whirlwind search for a pair of Nazis. In the course of a rollercoaster ride of many unforeseen emotional ups and downs, she becomes a major player of a drama in which nothing and no one is what appearances suggest or pretend reality to be.
