Synopses & Reviews
Review
"1935. The Jewish Vogels of Frankfurt send Manfred, 15, to foster parents in Baltimore—-just in case. No one there, that early in the Nazi era, neither the upwardly mobile Gordons, the rich Ottingers, the kids on the block, nor an almost sadistic high school mentor who sees Manfred as a prodigy-protege, really understands the terrible thing that has been done to him; he has been uprooted forever from his real parents and European heritage, wrenched, only half-willing, into a new American shape. Small wonder he does not quite fit. The Baltimoreans are evoked with elegant skill, but most indelible are Manfred's Frankfurt family, half-pretending that nothing in their cozy, overheated world has really changed. The chapter describing Manfred's departure by ship is a haunting classic of the genre. This is a beautifully written, superior addition to the literature of exile." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)