Hedwig and Berti

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"She had lost the flavors of her past." - Rated
When Hedwig Kessler marries her shy and diminutive first cousin Dagobert, known as Berti, she plans never to leave the substantial German villa which her family has occupied for generations--until the Nazis come to power. Escaping to London with Berti, the imperious, Valkyrian Hedwig totes the family history along with her in boxes, arriving at the doorstep of her cousin Harry Eisenstein, where she promptly takes over.

Steadfastly refusing to believe that the situation in Germany is as bad it really is, Hedwig keeps the family afloat by selling items from the family boxes when they need cash. When she visits Germany after the war, she finds that "every Kessler she sought was gone. She had lost the flavors of her past," except for what she has saved herself. When her strange, dark, and hairy daughter Gerda is born, Hedwig pays little attention to her.

Disregarding the conventions of plot, Frieda Arkin creates unusual and oddly intriguing characters, who seem to take control of the book, just as Hedwig takes control of everyone's life. Gerda, always at odds with her mother, is a ferocious child who quickly develops a passion for the piano and eventually becomes a prodigy, a "fury" who plays everything her own way. Berti, so self-effacing that even the author finds little to say about his life, finds a job as a veterinarian's assistant, and Hedwig remains perpetually unhappy.

The focus of the novel constantly shifts--first from Harry to Hedwig, and then either to Gerda, as she develops a musical career, or to Berti, shifting back and forth during thirty years. The settings also change, as Hedwig uproots the family and moves from England to New York and then to Kansas, always toting her precious boxes, and always feeling isolated from the Kessler connections which have formed the basis of her life. The constantly shifting perspectives parallel in many ways the dislocations of all emigrants as they move to new places and attempt to establish new lives.

Filled with oddly charming characters, the novel is full of surprises and quirky humor. Arkin never demeans her characters nor does she satirize them. Instead, she shows the characters in action, the wry humor arising from their very human characteristics and the difficulties they have individually in dealing with themselves and their own worlds. Ultimately, their lives are resolved as a result of their own choices combined with the uncontrollable accidents of fate. Filled with ironies, twists, and warm humor, Arkin's novel moves quickly and resonates long after the book is closed. Mary Whipple