Beautiful Mrs Seidenman

The omniscient author tells a story of survival during WW II, wonders at the inscrutable ways of God, and attempts unsuccessfully to divine why the world was so unjust and cruel to the Jews. He also portrays Polish national stereotypes and then endeavors to remold them. The loosely connected tales of Polish, Jewish, and German lives serve him as a vehicle for putting forward his divagations on suffering and death. Also, this book of memories shows Warsaw and its people in the period before they found themselves crushed by the tanks of history. The novel, rendered in Klara Glowczewska's translation, will be of interest to readers who want to understand how people behave in times of ultimate trial. -- M.J. Mikos - CHOICE