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Book Review: A Quiet Genocide by Glenn Bryant

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A Quiet Genocide [Amsterdam Publishers] by Glenn Bryant COVERAbout the Book

Germany, 1954. Jozef grows up in a happy household – so it seems. But his father Gerhard still harbours disturbing National Socialism ideals, while mother Catharina is quietly broken. She cannot feign happiness for much longer and rediscovers love elsewhere. Jozef is uncertain and alone. Who is he? Are Gerhard and Catharina his real parents?

A dark mystery gradually unfolds, revealing an inescapable truth the entire nation is afraid to confront. But Jozef is determined to find out about the past and a horror is finally unmasked which continues to question our idea of what, in the last hour, makes each of us human.

A terrifying and heartbreaking story.

Format: ebook (240 pp.)             Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers
Published: 22nd August 2018     Genre: Historical Fiction

Pre-order/Purchase Links*
Publisher | Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

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My Review

The Quiet Genocide contains a wealth of fascinating information about the rise of Hitler and National Socialism that was certainly new to this reader. The author chooses to impart these facts largely through the classes Jozef attends at school and university, so I did feel at times that I was sitting alongside him in a series of history lectures – a case of telling rather than showing.  This contrasted with the sections of moving first-hand testimony, for example from Professor Zielinski, which felt much more vivid and powerful.   I also confess that I found it difficult to identify with the adolescent drinking exploits of Jozef and his university friends that take up some of the book.

Jozef’s experiences at school and university are interspersed with insights into the troubled marriage of his parents, Catharina and Gerhard.   Gerhard finds refuge in drinking sessions, either alone or with his acquaintance Michael, who seems to exercise a strange hold over Gerhard and exudes a general air of malevolence.  Catharina finds refuge from her unhappy marriage in a quite different way; a way that will have unforeseen and tragic consequences.

The subtitle of the book, The Untold Holocaust of Disabled Children in WW2 Germany, means the subject matter of the book is clear to the reader from the start but of course what the reader doesn’t know is how Jozef’s personal history is connected to this terrible atrocity.  I think it’s fair to say that it takes quite a while for the mystery surrounding Jozef’s past to be revealed.  However, as the book draws towards its shocking conclusion and the true nature of the connection is revealed, it provides an explanation for the strained relationship between Jozef’s parents and demonstrates how the malevolent influence and twisted belief systems of Nazism persisted in some quarters even beyond the end of the war.  I found this latter section of the book the most compelling and, for me, it had the pace that was perhaps lacking in earlier parts of the book.

Although I have read a number of books about atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War Two, the shocking nature of those events never seems to lose its impact.  Most shocking of all, I find, is the ruthless efficiency and organisation with which such terrible acts were carried out: paperwork completed, records kept, numbers tallied, targets set.  Books such as A Quiet Genocide perform an important role in ensuring that such atrocities are never forgotten.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, factual, chilling

Try something similar…The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford (read my review here)

Glenn Bryant PORTRAITAbout the Author

Glenn Bryant was born in 1976 and grew up in Grimsby, the north of England. He has a Masters degree from the University of Dundee, Scotland in modern history where he studied in detail the Warsaw Ghetto 1940-43. He trained in newspaper journalism and is a qualified and experienced senior journalist.

His wife champions disability rights and is experienced working closely with people with complex disabilities.

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Book Review: Happiness is a Collage by Gita V. Reddy

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Happiness is a CollageAbout the Book

This collection of fifteen stories leads the reader into a world that is at once Indian and universal. The stories explore love, life, loss, and relationships.

A painter derives inspiration from a long lost love. Every night after going to bed, a woman scours a vast desert for her missing husband. A young woman strides through two worlds. A son experiences the miracle of his father’s immense love. An actor’s wife struggles to keep her husband from slipping into his reel life. And a busy professional tries to factor in pregnancy and motherhood into her hectic life.  Among those traversing this space are a henpecked billionaire, a homeless boy, a middle-aged wife dealing with infidelity, and a seeker finding solace with a lion and a deer.

Format: ebook (153 pp.)    Publisher:
Published: 4th August 2018            Genre: Short Stories

Purchase Links*
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*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

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My Review

Having read and enjoyed the author’s previous collection of short stories, A Tapestry of Tears, and her book about Catherine Dickens, wife of Charles Dickens, Outside the Magic Circle, I was thrilled when Gita contacted me about reading her new collection of short stories, published today.

As in the author’s previous collection, in these stories modern day India meets traditional India, sometimes coming into conflict, sometimes depicting an intriguing evolution.   A few common themes emerge in the stories, such as: the ties and obligations of family (often encompassing the extended family of cousins and in-laws); the strains of married life; the tension between career and domestic life; the honour and respect due to elders and others.

It’s invariably the case in a short story collection that some of the stories connect more powerfully with the reader than others, and so it was with this collection.  To quote from the story that gives the collection its title, as the narrator’s grandmother observes, when constructing a collage ‘Contrast the dull with the bright’.

Bright points for me included ‘The Search’, in which a daughter has a persistent dream of being reunited with her father, ‘The Gift’, about the possibility for a second chance of happiness, ‘The Vigil’ in which an expectant mother comes to realise there are some things you can’t manage like a business project and ‘Reflection’, in which a chance meeting gives a woman cause to take stock of her life.

There is much to be enjoyed in this collection.  The stories are varied in subject matter, well-written, imaginative and will appeal to those of Indian heritage as well as readers with an interest in Indian culture.   Finally, in case you needed any more encouragement, there are some mouthwatering descriptions of food in many of the stories!

I received an advance review copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.  Happiness is a Collage is my first book for ARC August (hashtag #arcaugust), hosted by the ladies at ReadSleepRepeat.

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In three words: Thoughtful, introspective, observational

Try something similar…A Tapestry of Tears by Gita V. Reddy (read my review here)

GitaVReddyAbout the Author

Gita V. Reddy is a writer of fiction for middle graders and adults. She enjoys thinking up tales of different genres. She has written mysteries, adventure, fantasy, science fiction, and even an animal tale for children.  She wrote and illustrated her first picture book for kids in August 2015. She plans to write a few more because the experience was very satisfying.

Ms Reddy was born in India, is a post graduate in Mathematics, worked in a bank for twenty-six years, is married to a physics professor, has a son doing research in neuro-electronics, and loves literature. Yes, her life is as mixed up as the multiple genres she writes.

She enjoys painting and spending time with her family, and LOVES walking in the rain.  She also writes under the name Heera Datta.

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