Katerina

Read this book . . . Think what a gift of lyric language and style, of emotion purified by pain this is

Anne Roiphe, Los Angeles Times

Appelfeld reimagines the place of his own origins through a perspective that in its generosity of feeling recalls Tolstoy and Chekhov

Judith Grossman, The New York Times Book Review

With piercing clarity, Israeli novelist Appelfeld tells the profoundly moving story of Katerina, a Polish housekeeper who works for a succession of Jewish families in the years before WWII... A theme that might be didactic in the hands of a lesser novelist is here conveyed with moving, unpreachy simplicity. This masterful novel is a powerful study of the poison of prejudice, a poignant meditation on life's horrors, beauty and God's inscrutable ways. Appelfeld imbues every scene with deep humanity in a riveting tale of universal appeal.

Publisher's Weekly

An astounding achievement, among the best pages Appelfeld has ever written.. intense, disturbing.

Kirkus Reviews

Full of beauty and pain… a chilling allegory that attains a satisfying force

John Self, Observer