I was turned onto this author through an NPR interview and was not disappointed by his work. This classic story line of a young son and father who can't see eye to eye and the mother who stands torn between them is set in the dangerous time period of Argentina during its coup and subsequent disappearances.
These characters were crafted with care and became real people to me, each one with their different sorrows and imperfections. As the story unfolds, the unraveling begins as this family finds itself in the middle of the nation's tragedy.
"For Kaddish, the [book]shelves were a sign of what he’d done right with his son. And this is where Pato misunderstood him. The books made Kaddish proud. He loved that Pato was educated. It was Pato’s educated attitude that made Kaddish want to wring his neck. He could dump them all if he wanted, every last book. Simpler. But he wasn’t an animal, he wasn’t being cruel. As always, as forever, Kaddish was trying his best."
"What other conclusion could the rabbi draw, listening to this maddness, talking to this madman, a son of a whore who always made trouble, who was born to it and now stood before him, filthy and stinking and wearing - Vashti-like - all his ugliness on the outside?"
"In the house, Lillian stood with her back tothe door. She let out a long slow wail and, for the first time in a long time, she let herself cry. She cried about Kaddish and the bones, about the fortune she'd never muster, and about the priest's call she knew would never come. When she was done, she wiped her face on her sleeve and mader her way to the chair by the window. She sat down and settled in. She set her gaze on the corner Pato would come around. And as she did every night, Lillian thought, He will turn."
Book 10
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