Moving among generations of a German-Jewish-American family, Red Anemones is a poignant exploration of the intricate bonds, untold secrets, and unspoken legacies our ancestors bestow upon us.
Natalie Barlow's journey of self-discovery begins when her estranged mother's sudden death releases a storm of unrevealed family secrets reaching back to pre-WWI Germany.
As Natalie navigates the complexities of her newly discovered Jewish identity and her ancestral heritage, she comes face-to-face with the early 20th-century German immigrant experience, which included strong anti-German sentiment and deep antisemitism that prevailed across America.
Through diaries and letters her mother saved, Natalie learns of the personal costs this ugly reality extracted from generations of her own family. Ultimately, she must confront the question of her own identity.
Like Israel's red anemones carpeting the western Negev and Dvira Forest of the Judean foothills year after year, Natalie is determined, no matter the personal costs, to find the courage, resiliency, and passion to embrace the changes that bring new beginnings. Inspired by a true story.
Praise for Red Anemones:
“"Red Anemones" by Paula Dáil weaves a powerful narrative inspired by a gripping true story, infusing the text with authenticity and emotional resonance. This book is an absolute must-read for fans of the genre, as it expertly blends enthralling storytelling with fully realised characters and a rich plot.”
~ Yarde Book Promotion, Editorial 5* Review
“Poignant, disturbing, and historically and dramatically riveting.”
~ Kirkus Reviews
“As I read, I found myself utterly taken by Dáil’s writing. Her prose has rhythm and patience, tight, deliberate, and quietly powerful. She writes with tenderness but never sentimentality, allowing emotion to rise naturally from her characters’ choices. I could almost feel the weight of Nathalie’s conflict between family duty and self-determination, between love and freedom. The language is lived-in, grounded, and full of quiet heat.”
~ Literary Titan, 5* Review
An hour later, after exchanging my wet clothes for dry ones, I notice that the sun has broken through the heavy overcast and is shining directly onto my desk, inviting me to sit down and begin the laborious, one word at a time task of translating a letter, written in the tiniest possible handwriting by someone named Irina.
Our Dearest Rachael,
I am sorrowfully writing with sad news. Your mother’s brother, who is also my husband and your Uncle Levi, and your cousin, my dear son Avram, have been taken by Hitler’s Gestapo. They came in the night, but we had been expecting this, so were not sleeping soundly. Levi told them he is an old man so they could have him and did not put up a fight. Avram fought back and was beaten without mercy. Washing his blood from our rug is impossible. Still, some remains.
Since Kristallnacht, which I have already written you about in the best details I can offer, more and more Jews are being shot in the streets or put on trains to what they call work camps. Many more are starving. No one who has been taken away has ever returned, and the rumors about what happens to them all end in death. Isaac says now his brother is taken, he is fighting back, says not to worry, then kisses me goodbye and leaves. I hear nothing from him since… and expect to know nothing of Levi or Avram for a long time. They will come for our Lazar soon, and then Jacob, as he is now old enough to cause trouble. When he goes, all my beloved sons are gone from me.
Your cousin Minna, born to me when I was too old, is slow and clumsy, yet a loving comfort to me. There are rumors the Reich is making lists of those who are in some way afflicted, both Jews and non-Jews, and will take them away to what they call rehabilitation camps. If this is true, Minna will certainly be on that list. There is a convent of Catholic nuns near Hannover willing to take in children, and am sending her there, hoping money you have sent is enough they will not refuse her because she is a Jew. Otherwise, I am unable to protect her, and she cannot survive on her own like the rest of us might be able to do, if G-d wills it be so.
I give to you the yellow star from Levi’s coat because I have other things to remember him by. I keep my son’s star for myself. If we never see them again, which Lazar thinks we won’t, or if we all perish, which is more likely each day, you must bear witness that we once lived and were faithful Jews brave in the face of hatred we don’t understand. If it is the Jewish destiny to suffer, we have no choice but to accept this life sentence.
I stop translating as the reality of my relationship to the letter’s writer vice-grips my stomach and I can barely breathe. I put on my winter coat and wrap my longest wool scarf around myself, then leave my apartment in the direction of the lake shore. After nearly an hour of wandering aimlessly along the waterline, the biting wind begins forcing clarity into the foreign words I never thought I would be reading, much less hold such profound personal meaning to me. Obviously, my mother was the product of a German-Jewish heritage that barely survived its face-to-face encounter with evil in an era I am vaguely aware of but also apparently deeply connected to and, from this moment forward, will be impossible to dismiss, bury, or ignore. I have no idea how to think about this, or how what I have just learned will change my life, but have no doubt that it will.
I never saw this coming… I tell myself.
A native Californian, Paula Dáil is an emerita research professor of social welfare and public policy and award-winning author. Widely published in the social sciences, she has also been recognized for her non-fiction and fiction writing, both under her own name and her pen name, Avery Michael.
She is the recipient of first or second place Readers Favorite, Reader’s Choice, Independent Publisher, Bookfest and Literary Titan awards, a Booklist Starred Review and several other five-star reviews, including Goodreads, The Book Commentary, and Independent Book Review. Two of her books received the Non-fiction Book of the Year Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lives with her husband and dog in the Great Lakes Region of the Upper Midwest.
Red Anemones is her tenth book.
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