ENG Fiction and Non-fiction

According to Her, Maciej Hen, Holland House Books 2022, shortlisted for the 2023 EBRD Literary Prize

A book-length interview with the Mother of God. No questions, just answers.

Mariamne is an old Jewish peasant woman from Galilee. She is visited by a young Greek man who came to see her to talk about her late son. Mariamne spins her story in the colourful and blunt language of a simple, old woman of natural intelligence and dry sense of humour.

In her eyes, Judas was the nicest friend of her son’s. She can’t forgive John the Baptist for stealing the object of young Hoshi’s love or, years later, finding it hard to conceal his jealousy of Yehoshua’s growing popularity.

According to her, Hoshi didn’t see himself as a god or a saviour of the entire humankind, or even a prophet or a religious reformer – he thought of himself first and foremost as a doctor and a little bit of a folk sage.

First published in Poland in 2004, According to Her creates a new, fresh retelling of the story which forms the basis of Judeo-Christian cultures. Written with wonderful language, strong feminist tones and a startling richness of detail about Jewish customs, this is, above all, a book of surprises.

Reviews:

Mary’s tale has been written before…this version …is earthier and funnier, with a Mary who is down-to-earth, gossipy and insightful. …Her character is drawn with such skill that, as the end comes, we suffer with her.

Antonia Senior, The Times

According to Her (2022) by Maciej Hen is a modest but captivating, fictional autobiography of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and a devout Jewish woman. The novel was translated by Anna Blasiak, who skilfully captured the mood of the Polish original, stylising Mary’s confessions into everyday, simple language. The emergence of this English translation also reflects a growing fascination with the subject, a theme that has captured the attention of various authors, among them Colm Tóibín, whose 2012 masterpiece The Testament of Mary earned a place on the prestigious Booker Prize shortlist in 2013. Let’s just add that Hen’s novel predates Tóibin’s, as the Polish original was published in 2004.

Urszula Chowanice, European Literature Network

If you could interview the mother of Yehoshua (Jesus), what might you ask? Maciej Hen envisions this in his novel, as 100-year-old Mariamne bustles about offering food and wine to her guest. At times she is emotional and humble, at times humorous, inquisitive and scathing. She is always filled with pride for her Jewish ancestry and its broader historical context, about which she is knowledgeable and vocal. Hers are the deeply moving recollections of a bereaved mother whose child’s life was severed mid-stream and they spoke to me with an ancient yet modern wisdom.

Yehoshua saw himself primarily as a doctor, a natural healer. When he spoke, he reasoned aloud rather than pontificating. He was kind and humble, he enjoyed people, and communal meals were contributed to by everyone. The change followed the beheading of Yochanan Immerser (John the Baptist), as he became more authoritative and demanding, worrying those who loved him. Mariamne’s son is not the Son of God, but she recalls that problems arose when his followers named him King of Israel, an affectation Yehoshua never used for himself. Mariamne speaks fondly of Yehoshua’s abiding friendship with Yehuda Yissakhari (Judas Iscariot), whom she looked upon as a confidant.

Set in Galilee, around 73/74 CE, the book’s huge cast of characters is daunting, with multiple names and nicknames, with more than one sometimes used for the same person within a couple of sentences. But this gives authenticity to Mariamne’s conversational banter. Perhaps it took me longer than others to translate the Jewish names and terminology, but the history is all there, just presented with a different slant. Written as a novel-length interview with questions implied in the answers, it requires focus to absorb the massive amount of researched detail contained within its pages. It’s a slow and measured read, a literary work which I found extremely rewarding. A glossary and map would have been helpful.

Fiona Alison, Historical Novel Society

Renia’s Diary, by Renia Spiegel, a diary, co-translated with Marta Dziurosz, Ebury Penguin Random House/St Martin’s Press 2019

Recently rediscovered after seventy years, Renia’s Diary is already being described as a classic of Holocaust literature. Written with a clarity and skill that is reminiscent of Anne Frank, Renia’s Diary also includes a prologue and epilogue by Renia’s sister Elizabeth, as well as an introduction by Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Denial. It is an extraordinary testament to both the horrors of war, and to the life that can exist even in the darkest times.

Reviews:

At a moment when basic agreement over simple truths has become a political battleground and history a weapon, the publication of the book, Renia’s Diary, offers a reminder of the power of bearing witness.

Joanna Berendt, New York Times

Extraordinary… It is a privilege to read these pages, and an impertinence to review them. Renia Spiegel was an astonishingly brave girl who developed into a remarkable young woman. (5* review)

Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph

Astonishing… A new invaluable contribution to Holocaust literature.

Robin Shulman, Smithsonian Magazine

It is as though the murderous machine of Hitler’s vision and the barbarity being brought upon her people couldn’t silence the integrity of her voice… Renia emerges as a poet of real lyricism and emotional heft, which makes her demise all the more tragic.

Hilary A. White, Irish Independent

Recall[s] moments of intense happiness in the gathering gloom.

Will Pavia, Times

Simultaneously devastating and astounding… incredible.

Stylist

A terribly poignant work that conveys the brutal reality of the time through intimate connection with a young person.

Kirkus Review

Moving [and] riveting… this epic, layered story of survival serves as an important Holocaust document.

Publishers Weekly

Life. A Temporary Title, by Irit Amiel, autobiography, published by Vallentine Mitchell, September 2017

Born in 1931 to a secular Jewish family in Poland, Irit grew up in the city of Częstochowa with its significant Jewish community of 30,000. She survived the Second World War having escaped from the ghetto and living under false Aryan papers, in various places. After the war, in the autumn of 1945 and at the age of 14, she set on a brave journey to the Middle East. She reached Eretz Israel in December 1947. She settled in a kibbutz and participated in the joint effort of building the country with native Israelis and Shoah survivors. There she met the love of her life, a charming Israeli Palmachnik of Moroccan heritage, Chuzy Amiel. Together they started a new life and raised a family. Only when her grandchildren reached their teens she was ready to tell her story, understanding her experiences are unique and that the passage of time will erase the memories of yesterday. Irit talks to herself throughout the book, and in her unique style of writing each chapter is both part of the whole and an individual story at the same time. In this way her individual voice becomes the voice of her generation.

Reviews:

[This] is a simply extraordinary and inherently moving true life story that is especially and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary Biography collections in general, and Holocaust Studies supplemental reading lists in particular.

Midwest Book Review

Bird Man, by Kaja Malanowska, a short story, published in Best European Fiction 2015, Dalkey Archive Press, 2014

21:37, by Mariusz Czubaj, a crime novel, Stork Press, 2013. Chosen one of World Literature Today’s 75 Notable Translations 2013. Excerpt published in B O D Y Literature.