ACTS OF RESISTANCE

Three young people provide essential help in the movement to save Bulgaria’s Jews from the Nazis.

Unofficial memoirs (released after the end of communism) recorded the sudden halt of plans to send thousands of Bulgarian Jews to death camps in 1943. This novel explores that still contentious history, reflecting uncertainty over the roles of King Boris, the Orthodox Church, ordinary citizens, and some government officials. The alternating first-person narrators are Michael, a Jewish driver for Sofia’s archbishop hiding in plain sight as a seminary student; Peter, who is drawn to the idea of communist revolution; and Lily, who works with collaborators and secretly leaks information to the resistance. An initial deportation of Jews from Bulgarian-held Skopje catalyzes the three youths. Events cover spring 1943, skip a year when the tide was turning against the Nazis, and end with their rout in September 1944. More sophisticated readers will find the novel incompletely imagined, with undigested research, clichéd expressions, and minimally developed characters whose undifferentiated voices combine jarringly contemporary slang with overly formal SAT vocabulary. Improbable behavior abounds, requiring suspension of disbelief. The lack of atmosphere limits the impact of the novel, but the diary entry format adds suspense, and the focus on young adult protagonists is effective for the target audience. Moral issues around assassination and revenge killing go unexplored.

A disappointing account of a fascinating chapter in history.