"Day After Night" by Anita Diamant ****

• Book Club selection...July 2013
• USA author
• Originally published in 2009
• Epigraph:  "Know that every human being must cross a very narrow bridge.  What is most important is not to be overcome by fear." - Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav, 1772-1810
• Characters: Shayndel (former fighter, Polish Zionist), Tedi (hidden Dutch Jew, magical scents), Leonie (French, former prostitute), Zorah 9concentration camp survivor)
• Ease with which they kill the former SS member
• Memory as an inescapable enemy
• Review:  Anita Diamant has a notable ability to bring a story alive out of the history books, or Bible in the case of "The Red Tent".  I had never heard about the internment of Jews by the British, and was immediately intrigued with the story.  Diamant's deceptively simple writing style manages to convey deep affect, character development and the emotional energies which work on the psyche of the characters.  The four protagonists have all escaped to Palestine, only one from a concentration camp.  Their experiences and memories, losses, and survivor guilt work on them in differing ways, all of which are powerful.  I think this is a post Holocaust story which is more bearable to read than some others, although clearly shadowed with the horror of Nazi Germany.  Survival, the drive to be free, the desire to love and be loved are such powerful, vital forces!