Between These Walls
In the dying days of WW II on the American
About The Book
Book Shorts
Between These Walls
WINNER, 2020 NYC Big Book Award, Distinguished Favourite in the Historical Fiction CategoryABOUT BETWEEN THESE WALLSMay 1945
In the dying days of WW II on the American occupied side of Germany’s Elbe River, US Army Medical Corps Colonel Samuel Singer comes upon the shot-up wreck of a smouldering SS Staff car, with a badly injured driver, nearby a dead German Army officer carrying the ID of a Nazi war criminal, and a young blonde woman, also dead in the back seat.
July 1988
Art curator Daniel Singer, the adopted son of Colonel Singer receives a mysterious package–a large brown envelope, sealed with security tape–from West Berlin. He can’t help but think that there’s something important within the envelope. But what?
Daniel’s quest to learn about the package’s contents leads him on a surprising voyage of discovery about his own roots, including an encounter with the Mossad, Israel’s top secret spy agency. As he searches, he unlocks the history and secrets of three families–one American and two German–following them through tumultuous times, from the dying days of WWI to the rise of Adolf Hitler, WWII, the Holocaust, the birth of the State of Israel and three Middle East wars.
As Daniel learns about duty, honour, sacrifice, and the familial ties that bind us all, he will be faced with a life-altering choice–and the opportunity to right the most heinous of wrongs.
🧐What readers say about the book
Between these Walls is a fictionalized account involving the fates of three disparate casts of characters, linked by acts of evil and callous indifference as well as acts of heroism, generosity, and love in the time of the rise and eventual defeat of Adolf Hitler. The author, instead of making do with flat depictions in black and white, offers nuanced portrayals of various characters, thus illustrating the complexity behind various acts. The title references the hiding space occupied by the members of one family for nearly a year and a half. The respective story lines span several continents; much of the action is set in Germany, the Middle East, and Paraguay. The author has done a superb job of researching historical details, including the not so often acknowledged sad reality of Nazis in hiding in Latin America where they managed to lead active lives after the end of World War II. This lends an air of complete authenticity to his writing, further enhanced by the author’s evident grasp of several languages. The author’s knowledge of history and the understandable urge to provide sufficient historical context for readers at times threatens to drown out the compelling story that is being told. A useful device in telling the interrelated trajectories of multiple casts of characters involves switching time frames and points of view. At times this can become confusing; however, by the time I reached the midway point of the book, I was so vested in it that this no longer bothered me. This period in history, one for which there are truly no words, presents a huge challenge to any author. Between these Walls is a story that needed to be told.
Malve von Hassell
About The Author
Michael Newman
Michael Newman has always had an interest in the Second World War. The son of Holocaust survivors, he has received first-hand accounts of what happened during WWII in the concentration camps, particularly Mauthausen, where his father was imprisoned. Newman had the opportunity to travel, surreptitiously, to Israel during the Second Lebanon War, an experience that was written about in the National Post and the Toronto Star.
Michael lives on Toronto’s waterfront with his wife, Dixie, and their cocker spaniel, Sandy. They have five kids and eleven grandchildren.
For more information, visit: www.michaelnewmannovelist.com
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Twitter: @michaelnovelist