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Denise Morland, February 18, 2009 (view all comments by Denise Morland)
There are two short stories in this edition, The Shawl and Rosa. Both are stunning and heartbreaking stories of the holocaust. In the first a woman watches, helpless, as a concentration camp guard murders her infant daughter. In the second that same woman is in America living with her memories.
I have read many stories of the victims of the holocaust about the terror and bravery, but I don't think I've ever come across one addressing how some dealt with the horror through insanity. Here, Rosa fixates on a shawl that becomes almost magical in its abilities. In a unique way the shawl allows Rosa to keep living even in the face of the unimaginable.
I listened to this book on audio and was immediately immersed, transported into the bleak, empty, fierce world of a holocaust survivor. These are short stories at their best, thick and concentrated, demanding your full attention, and leaving you breathless and gasping at the end.
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