An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the
Camps
by Iris
Dorbian
GENRE: Historical
YA
BLURB:
An Epiphany In Lilacs
is a young adult novel set in a DP camp outside Hamburg, Germany following the
end of World War II. The author, Iris Dorbian, captures in this story a unique
glimpse into the period after the Holocaust when survivors had to deal with
their new realities for living, based on her father's personal experience.
After liberation in
May 1945, Daniel, a 14-year-old Latvian Jew, is treated in a field hospital in
the British zone of partitioned Germany. A survivor of various concentration
camps, Daniel fights to recover from starvation and disease. Racked by
nightmares, a nearly nightly occurrence, Daniel finds sleep almost impossible.
Through his love of nature, and pre-war memories, Daniel struggles to find
comfort. He forms an intriguing bond with an older German gentile, another
survivor. Later on, as he joins a theater troupe, Daniel tries to move on with his
life, yet still searching for the whereabouts of his mother and two sisters.
Poised on the cusp of a new life, young Daniel makes his way to the country
that will become his new home.
Excerpt:
The July heat could sometimes get
clammy and oppressive under the glare of the morning sun, but Daniel didn’t
care about peripheral meteorological considerations. What he cared about as he
traipsed and traversed the grounds, the meticulously mowed lawns, the
proliferating lilacs always in bloom, was an sensation that rippled throughout
his body, the entire network of valves and veins constituting his inner being,
the framework of his soul and flesh, a feeling so powerful and ineffable, it
always bubbled up inside his head, manifesting in three simple words – “I am
alive.”
Sometimes he would say these words
aloud, sometimes within the earshot of other patients, some ambulatory, others
not, yet all who heard would faintly acknowledge Daniel’s prosaic but freighted
affirmation of being with their own gesture of recognition and affinity, be it
an askew nod, a wry smile or a knowing wink.
Like other survivors, Daniel was
plagued with guilt, confusion, disorientation and shock – the symptoms of
post-traumatic stress that sometimes felt more terminal than transitory. But
there was another emotion he shared with them, or rather a byproduct of an
emotion, as he wasn’t ever sure he could qualify it as one, and that was
gratitude. And it was this thankfulness, this visceral appreciation of just how
lucky he was when far worthier beings like Tante Masha and Cousin David had not
been, which instilled him with awe and wonder during his outdoor digressions.
“I am alive.”
AUTHOR BIO:
Iris
Dorbian is a business and arts journalist whose articles have appeared in a
wide number of outlets that include the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Venture
Capital Journal, Buyouts, Investopedia, DMNews, Jerusalem Report, the Forward,
Playbill, Backstage, Theatermania, Live Design, Media Industry Newsletter and
PR News. From 1999 to 2007, Iris was the editor-in-chief of Stage Directions.
She is the author of "Great Producers: Visionaries of the American Theater,"
which was published by Allworth Press in August 2008. Her personal essays have
been published in Blue Lyra Review, B O D Y, Embodied Effigies, Jewish Literary
Journal, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Adanna Literary Journal, ThisSpace.org,
Skirt! and Gothesque Magazine. A New Jersey native, Iris has a master's degree
in journalism from Columbia University.
Author
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