Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
Copyright 2016
Alfred A. Knopf - YA/Holocaust/WWII
232 pp.
Anna still was not certain what precisely was meant by this word "war," but it seemed, at least in part, to be an assault on her cookie supply, and of this she simply could not approve.
~from p. 9 from Advance Reader Copy (some changes may have been made to the final print version)
In the November cold, resting out of doors for the very first time, and beset on all sides with what seemed like the world congress of inconvenient tree roots, she hardly slept at all.
~from p. 39 of ARC
I don't feel like I can possibly do Anna and the Swallow Man justice, so I'm going to link to my friend Jill's Goodread's review. I don't think it's got any spoilers, although it will make a lot more sense after you've read the book. And, you definitely should, particularly if you are interested in a completely unique view of the Holocaust. It is achingly beautiful, brilliantly written, heartbreaking storytelling.
In brief:
Anna's father is a professor of linguistics in Krakow, Poland. In 1939, he is arrested while Anna is being watched by a friend. Locked out of their home and unsure where to go, she meets the Swallow Man, a lanky stranger who is as fluent in many languages and dialects as her father and Anna, herself. He refuses to share his name and insists that Anna not use her name in public, as well. Anna follows him as he walks around Poland and across borders, teaching her how to live off the land and how to behave when they are around people, particularly the Wolves and Bears (Germans and Soviets).
Years pass, Anna grows, a third straggler joins them for a time. Will they survive till the end of the war?
Highly recommended - I'm surprised this book has been marketed as YA because it's definitely a dark read, but the author has said perhaps the marketing not a bad thing, maybe that choice has opened up the readership. And, when I think back, I realize that I read books about the Holocaust when I was pretty young. My first real peek into WWII was a "Drama in Real Life" in Reader's Digest that I read when I was 10 years old. The Holocaust a crucial part of our history and one that should never be forgotten. Anna and the Swallow Man is the kind of book that really brings home the horror, deprivation, and evil of the Holocaust, and yet at the same time it portrays the compassion and hope that kept a portion of the Jewish population alive when so many were trying to exterminate them.
Anna and the Swallow Man will stay with me for a long, long time, I'm sure. It's the kind of book that should be read repeatedly, studied, and discussed. Heartfelt thanks to my friend Paula for sending it to me.
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