Book review : The Thirty-Fifth Page

 The Thirty-Fifth Page
by 
Lya Badgley
Atmosphere Press, 2025
Genre : Historical fiction



“Religion was…there,” he said, waving a hand vaguely. “But it didn’t define you. Not like now.” - The Thirty Fifth Page 

Why does art matter, especially books ? Are war correspondents scavengers or documenting truth? If yes, whose truth and at what cost? Are they just showing suffering in neat consumable packages which people can watch without guilt? Does history not stay in past but leaks into the present and it is just a circle if we pretend the violence and injustice of the past never took place? Is home a place or a person? These questions and more are asked and answered by the author in her book, "The Thirty Fifth Page."

In 1992, American Miriam aka Miri Adler takes up a research project of the Sarajevo Haggadah and Jennifer Cooper is a war correspondent expecting war to break out in Yugoslavia. Enter Malcolm Pyre, a stringer from San Francisco who Miri is attracted to but distrusts. When Sarajevo is bombed, Miri is given the Sarajevo Haggadah and asked to protect it by her Bosnian friend, Jusuf, who is in charge of the Sarajevo museum when it is bombed.. While Malcolm offers Miri a chance to sell it, she turns it down. Then she meets a young girl Vila whose grandmother is shot dead in front of the journalists. While Miri decides to return to America, she also decides to drop the  Vila at her village. This is where the book actually begins as Miri has to escape Serbian Army who seem to be searching for the Sarajevo Haggadah. How did they know it is missing? Who is Vila and Malcolm? Who is Goran Markovic who helps Miri ?

Miri returns after 23 years in 2015 at the request of the Sarajevo museum as they wish to honor her. Once she lands, it starts all over again. The book disappears. What happened to Goran? What about Malcolm and her friend Jusuf? What about the Sarajevo Haggadah itself which now has a new page ? What does this mean?

While reading , the reader will find the story of Yugoslavia breaking up into Bosnia and Serbia very similar to that of Ukraine and Russia including the colors of the flags.

The writing is clear, insightful with a beauty so profound that the reader should be prepared to mark many passages. It is kind and humane that the author will make most readers rethink our stated positions in politics and international affairs.I understood why there is a sudden rise of the right wing worldwide . The genre though stated as historical fiction, encompasses thriller, mystery, magic, horror, fable and fantasy.

This is a book everyone should read as it ends with hope- Hope for humanity irrespective of religion, race, language or region. Good book to end this year with.

Buy it here . Amazon

Book Review : The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman

The Vengeance Of Samuel Val
by
Elyse Hoffman
110 Pages, Project 613 Publishing

Khruvina is a tiny, backwater village in Belarus, Soviet Union. Young Samuel Val lives there with his parents and sisters and hopes to become the Rabbi of Khruvina when he grows up. Instead he finds himself the only survivor as his village is burned to the ground by Germans headed by Viktor Naden aka the beast of Belarus, under orders from Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was described by Hitler as the "Man with the iron heart."  Sam is shot and left for dead but survives and joins the Black Fox underground network which frees Jews and puts them up in safe houses. When Sam is on a mission to bring back a fellow Jew namely Amos, they accidentally end up in a safe house run by Naden's wife and daughter. Will he have his revenge or will he spare them because the German wife and daughter of Naden are helping the  Jews escape?

From Belarus to Germany, Hoffman spins a tale of horror, inhumanity with flickers of humanity and extreme sadness thrown in between. One cannot think it is just a fiction based on the Holocaust of the past as you see this is being repeated again and again in the genocides across the world making you wonder what is wrong  with human nature that fascism is taking such a strong hold on mankind nowadays. Is ignorance or love an excuse to forgive a barbarian? There is a wonderful debate in the story about redemption and repentance.

The writing style is crisp and the pace is fast. This book reminded me of the recent horror in Manipur, India and we do not know yet all of the stories as it is still ongoing and everyone is aware of the ethnic cleansing.  While synagogues and churches have been destroyed, numerous villages have been burnt leaving many homeless and as internal refugees in India. That Hoffman's story is still valid as genocide is still happening in Asia, makes this book all the more important.

If you wish to buy it, go here  Amazon      - available from Sept 1, 2023 but you can pre-order it now.