Shosha by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1978)

As the Warsaw Jews await the arrival of the German army, a young writer considers his alternatives, and his childhood sweetheart who remains a child.

Book Review:  Isaac Bashevis Singer won the Nobel the year Shosha was published, and writes of a rich, passionate world few of us could ever know. There is good and evil, but no one is wholly one or the other (except perhaps Shosha, herself).  The reader may not like the main character, I don't think he likes himself, but life isn't always pretty and neat, and there really is evil and not enough good. In Shosha we get a peek into this different time, and the vagaries of life where there are no perfect people. It's fascinating. Set in Warsaw in the months before Hitler's troops arrived, when families lived with the knowledge that they would die. We see what it is to live with the knowledge of death marching closer, and how the various characters react. It's unimaginable, except by Singer. What would you do if you were dirt poor and knew that soldiers were coming to kill you and there were few chances for escape? The characters are richly drawn, and I found the character of Shosha to be unforgettable. Shosha doesn't necessarily inhabit a lot pages in the novel, but every moment she appears shows her brighter than the scholars and better than the saints, and she is the true center of the book. A quick read and glimpse of another world and time. [4 Stars]