Loved this book
Didn't want it to end
Highly recommend

Author Joseph Kertes was 4 years old when the fairly brief Hungarian revolution broke out in October of 1956 and his family fled to the west to freedom to escape the oppressive Soviet Communist rule that had dominated his native country for 7 years. Now the adult Kertes has written a fiction novel about a family that does the same thing ( yes, I know that it might be redundant to use the words fiction and novel back to back, but I wanted to make it clear that this book is not a memoir). The story is mainly told through the eyes of two brothers, Robert, who is 9.8 years old and his brother, Attila, who is 13. As Russian tanks roll into Budapest, Robert witnesses Hungarian soldiers hanging from lampposts in a square as he is walked home from school, and Russian soldiers commandeering his home and many of his family possessions. Robert's family--he, his brother, his parents, his grandmother, and two cousins are Holocaust survivors who quickly size the situation up and set out to escape Hungary via Austria and France ( the home of his grandmother's sister who was once a famous opera singer and has a harrowing tale of her own to tell) with the goal of eventually reaching Canada. They do not all make it. The book is a fairly quick read, and full of characters that I cared about very quickly, but it did have many teenage boy moments filled with testosterone that were not my favorite things to read, and the older brother, Attila, did have a disconcerting way of using names of endearment for his younger brother, Robert, that seemed to be a mark of affection, but culturally were rather stranger to my American ears than I think they might be to European ears. The novel was full of moments of heroism, but also very improbable moments. It was a very unique read. I was probably more tolerant of the pubescent boy lens because I traveled to Budapest in 1973 when it was a once beautiful city that was still repressed and lifeless under Soviet domination. That Budapest had a military police presence on every corner in my 18 year old memory and a gentleman who camped out in the lobby of our hotel and followed us any time we left our rooms ( which were bugged). No, I was not a spy--just an American college student attending seminars ( which were academic and NOT political in any way) in various capital cities of Europe. In 1973 East Germany and Hungary, I and other students in the group from the West were considered to be a corrupting influence. I have never forgotten what that lack of freedom felt like, and was interested in the premise of this novel. Thank you, Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to review this book.

I just couldn't get into this book. The character of the older brother annoyed me, I particularly did not like the way he spoke. I felt almost like his words were translated and I couldn't grasp the meaning. His forms of addressing his brother were so weird. I couldn't form sympathy for and make a connection with the younger brother who is the narrator. Maybe it picked up later, but I gave up.

I had a hard time getting into this book. Since I did not finish it, I do not intend to publish a review.

The Beck family had survived the Holocaust through the efforts of the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg. Their uncle Paul had been Wallenberg's assistant and was also able to save Jews from the concentration camps. However in 1956 the family found themselves uprooted from their Budapest home by the occupying Russian army after a failed revolution. Their home was looted and they were given a day to evacuate.

They journeyed by foot with other Jews to the Austrian border. Once there, the refugees were taken in by nuns and eventually able to get buses taking to other places. The Becks ventured first to Paris to visit aunt who was a famous opera and had been horribly disfigured by the Nazis during the war. From there the family hoped to emigrate to Canada.

This story is told by 9.9 year old Robert. He and his curious older brother, Attila, were witnesses to atrocities such as failed revolutionaries hung in a public square in Budapest and a foot journey across a mine field on the road to Austria. Neither boy shirked from danger. Attila's insatiable curiosity forced him to barrage anyone he met with complex questions. So when Attila discovered a family secret in a playhouse at his Great Aunt's home in Paris, he sought the answer and enlisted Robert's help.

This fictional story is based on the author's experiences when his family was forced to leave Hungary in 1956. Although we learn much about the two boys, the other characters are not well developed even though they appear to have interesting lives.

The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes interested me from the beginning, as I am a native Hungarian, who lived through the 1956 uprising, prior to moving to the United States. I was only 10 years old in 1956, and was not allowed by my parents on the streets during the worst days, thus I haven't witnessed the atrocities first hand that took place. My brother who was a university student left Hungary, just as the family did in Kertes's novel and the dangerous journey they took to reach the Austrian border was very familiar to me from my brother's account.
With all that said, this book was very disappointing for me. If I would summarize my review in one word, it would be "weird". The story tells of the Beck family's escape from Hungary in 1956 to Vienna, Paris and ultimately Canada. The story is told by Robert, the younger of two brothers, nearly 10 years old. His older brother Attila is nearly 14. Attila's character is a strange one, curious, full of questions, rebellious and outright weird. His relationship to his younger brother is also strange as are the words of endearment he uses for him. During the course of the story we learn that the Jewish Beck family was one of many thousands of Hungarian Jews who were saved by Roul Wallenberg, who later disappeared from Hungary and was believed to be taken by the Russians. There is also a family connection to Wallenberg, which is kept as a high secret in the family, for what reason, is not very clear.
The trip to the Paris sewers by the two brothers is more like a nightmare, then a real happening and ends up with serious consequences for the family. I had to reread some of that chapter to make sure it wasn't another of Robert's dream as he has many nightmares after witnessing the happenings around him.
Overall this was a well written but very strange book, I do not recommend for others. I also don't get the title at all.
Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.

Before even opening this book, I was filled with hope: creative plot idea (Hungary 1956), themes of freedom and familial bonds, and even a thumbs up from one of my favorite authors, Tim O'Brien (The Things They Carried). Yet hope was dashed not far into this debut novel, and however more I read (yes, I did finish it), I could not find redeeming qualities. First, while the idea of setting the story in Hungary during the fight for freedom is unique, it was severely under-developed. Kertes does far more 'telling' of the story than 'showing,' leaving the reader with a great many questions and confusions. The plot line reads like a pinball game...shoot the idea out there, have it ping-ping-ping against different historical figures, veering into places we do not care about, and glancing off thematic ideas with no development as it disappears into the hole. It might have been saved with some rich character development, but alas the family members were two dimensional, flatter than paper dolls. Even the two brothers who we should have been rooting for started out unlikable and annoying, and never convinced me they were other than shallow, thoughtless beings. Perhaps if it had been told using two different time periods, before WWII and after, we could have felt, seen, heard, and empathized more with this family. Perhaps if the two boys had been flushed out, to help us understand the quirkiness of the older one, Attila, and the softness of the younger boy, inexplicably named Robert in a Jewish Hungarian family? Perhaps others are not so particular, but this book needed far more to gain my attention, my empathy, and my recommendation.

First published in Canada in 2014; published by Little, Brown and Company on January 10, 2017

Russian soldiers are hanging Hungarian soldiers from lamp posts as young Robert Beck looks on. Russian soldiers loot his home and evict his family from their apartment. Robert, his brother Attila, and the rest of his Jewish family have no choice but to flee. So begins a perilous journey to the Austrian border, dodging Russians and hoping for the best when crossing a minefield.

Their destination is Paris, where an aunt lives, and ultimately New York. The boys encounter an interesting variety of people on their journey, as well as a monkey. Lives intersect briefly, people come and go, an experience that is common to the displaced. The aunt has her own story of atrocities to tell.

Familiar arguments about the merits of racial purity and ethnic cleansing spark the second half, followed by arguments among people who spout nonsense like “You can’t have Handel without Hitler.” Eventually the boys have a far-fetched adventure that seems to have been included only to give the story a contrived ending.

Robert, who narrates the story, is cautious and contemplative. Attila is wild and seemingly intent on living up to his name. Some passages attribute a graduate student’s level of sophistication to Attila (particularly when he discusses opera), which I found hard to accept.

Their father has a mysterious cousin named Paul who is wanted by the police for reasons that are hidden from the children. In fact, a good bit is hidden from the children, but Robert is able to piece together clues about the world’s harsh realities during the long trip to Paris. Attila insists on knowing the dark family secret concerning Paul, but the adults are unwilling to share it. When the dark secret is finally revealed, the remaining question is what the boys will do with the knowledge. The answer is disappointing.

The Afterlife of Stars is filled with interesting scenes and conversations, even if the story as a whole isn’t terribly interesting and not nearly as moving as other stories of oppressed refugees in the Second World War. Dramatic tension is oddly absent from a setting that should be filled with drama and tension. I admired the quality of Joseph Kertes’ prose, but the novel’s humor is forced and the story doesn’t seem to know where it wants to go. It ultimately goes nowhere, although the journey has some compelling moments.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

I'm not a huge fan of historical books but the publicist promised I would enjoy this book and she was correct. I did enjoy the lovely prose and narrative of this war filled story about family. Joseph Kertes has written a moving novel that I'm sure will be deeply apprecuated by readers of literary fiction. Bravo!

Having family members who fled Hungary and eventually emigrated to the United States, I was eagerly looking forward to reading THE AFTERLIFE OF STARS by Joseph Kertes. This novel is set in 1956 at the time of the Russian invasion and tells the story of the Beck brothers, Robert (age 9.8) and Attila (age 13.7). The novel consists largely of the musings of young Robert as the family leaves Hungary and travels as refugees to Paris.

There are certainly many parallels to present day situations, but I was troubled by the book in a way that I had not expected to be. That was mainly due to the character of Attila who takes many unnecessary risks and seems emotionally fraught, even before dealing with the trauma of displacement. I liked the story itself and would be apt to rate it more highly if I could have felt some empathy (as opposed to aversion) for him. Fans of historical fiction, particularly post WWII, will likely appreciate Kertes' THE AFTERLIFE OF STARS.

Library Journal starred review.