Book Review: The Storyteller

I don't normally write book reviews at my personal blog. However, the story I'm about to discuss is definitely not chick lit and I'm also writing the review in honor of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Before I go on, I have to be honest and upfront about something. Although I am Jewish and very strong in my faith, I haven't felt much of a personal connection to the events that took place during the Holocaust. Maybe because I don't know of anyone in my direct family lineage being victims. Maybe because it's so far in the past that it doesn't reconcile with the life I've lived. (Makes it seem even further in the past than it really is.) I can't put my finger on it. I feel bad that I didn't cry while watching Schindler's List, visiting Yad Vashem, or more recently, walking through the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. However, I sobbed through Life is Beautiful. It was a fictionalized account of the Holocaust, told in a humorous way at times (like when Roberto Benigni is "translating" so his son will think the German soldier is talking about lollipops). What struck me was the personalization of the story. How one man helped his son get through such a horrible time unscathed. How many people could do that for their children when they felt so defeated? I just felt so connected with the fictional family in the movie and could not sit through it without shedding buckets of tears. Reading Jodi Picoult's latest novel, The Storyteller, brought back those feelings of personal connection to the Holocaust.

Sage Singer is a baker who works at night so she can hide her physical and emotional scars from the public eye. She even dates someone she knows she won't have to be seen with in public. When she meets Josef Weber at her grief support group, she forms an instant kinship with him. Then he asks of her a difficult request...to help him end his life. He explains about his past, that he was a Nazi war criminal, and how he feels horrible and wants forgiveness. Since Sage is Jewish (by name only) and her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, she doesn't know if she's up for the task. However, she does feel that Josef should be punished, but to what extent?

Jodi Picoult's novels are always engaging, with vivid characters full of layers and complexities. The Storyteller is no exception to this description. There are four stories being carried through the book. Sage's story takes place in the present, Josef's story tells a side of the Holocaust that most people don't get to, nor want to hear. Her grandmother's story is perhaps the most harrowing of them all. That's the meat and potatoes of the novel, in my opinion. (Not that her grandmother got to eat either of those things during the Holocaust.) Then there's the work of fiction (a gothic fairy tale, of sorts) that is explained later on. The fairy tale is really intriguing, as well. Yes, I know that the entire book is a fictional novel, but the grandmother's recounting of her Holocaust experience felt so real that I almost forgot I was reading a story sometimes. I felt like I was on her journey and was exhausted when she was finished talking about it.

With that in mind, please know that there is NOTHING fictional about the Holocaust. Those who denied that it happened and claim it was made up are just denying the obvious mass genocide of a religious population (not to forget the other groups that were also victims, such as gypsies and people with disabilities). Jodi Picoult did a lot of research for The Storyteller and paints everything so vividly that you feel you're right next to Sage's grandmother in the Polish ghetto and at the concentration camps. Jodi doesn't hold back either. Some parts are very dark and gruesome. Others are just downright disturbing.

The only thing that I wasn't as thrilled about in this novel was how forced some of the coincidences felt. I don't want to give anything away, but it just seemed like she was grasping for straws by trying to make these coincidences work in order to move along the story in the direction she wanted. Balancing out my frustration over this was how much I loved Leo Stein, the Nazi Hunter (so to speak). He was a real mensch and it's too bad not many single Jewish guys are like him (and if there are guys like him, why aren't they headed in the direction of the women I care about). The fact that he was based in Washington D.C. made me like him even more. (I'm just biased that way, but I love reading about how things are portrayed in my neck of the woods.) There's something else in the story that packs a huge punch, but I won't give any spoilers. Just wait till you see for yourself.

Overall, I highly recommend The Storyteller. I've been calling it a "must-read" whenever I tell family and friends about it. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is reading it during Passover, since there's a lot of talk about delicious sounding bread!

More by Jodi Picoult:

Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."