Mischling (35 page)
Authors: Affinity Konar
Unusual stories. Unexpected voices. An immersive sense of place. Lee Boudreaux Books publishes both award-winning authors and writers making their literary debut. A carefully curated mix, these books share an underlying DNA: a mastery of language, commanding narrative momentum, and a knack for leaving us astonished, delighted, disturbed, and powerfully affected, sometimes all at once.
Mischling
One cannot approach
Mischling
without wondering, as Anthony Doerr so eloquently put it, if one's soul can survive the journey. But therein lies the magic of Affinity Konar's dazzling novel. While it is, indeed, among the most shattering novels I've ever read, it is also brimming with life and hope. It galvanizes the soul. It demands attention. It rewards that attention in a thousand unforgettable moments. And how did Konar achieve such transcendence? I put it down to her luminous and endlessly surprising language, which, to my mind, make
Mischling
an absolute miracle of observation and expression. But we can't overlook Pearl and Stasha, young female characters of such strength, intelligence, imagination, and bravery that I know I will never stop thinking about them.
As I edited this remarkable work, I repeatedly found myself looking up some of the real people from whom Konar drew her inspiration: Eva Mozes Kor and Miriam Mozes Zeiger, Zvi Spiegel, Alex Dekel, and, most especially, Gisella Pearl. I stand in awe of them, overwhelmed to imagine that
Mischling
will, perhaps, draw renewed attention to the largely untold story of the twins of Auschwitz.
Â
______________________________________
Over the course of her career, Lee Boudreaux has published a diverse list of titles, including Ben Fountain's
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,
Smith Henderson's
Fourth of July Creek,
Madeline Miller's
The Song of Achilles,
Ron Rash's
Serena,
Jennifer Senior's
All Joy and No Fun,
Curtis Sittenfeld's
Prep,
and David Wroblewski's
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,
among many others.
 Â
For more information about forthcoming books, please go to
leeboudreauxbooks.com
.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us at
hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2016 by Affinity Konar
Cover design by Kapo Ng
Cover art by Tomonori Taniguchi / Getty Images
Author photograph by Gabriela Michanie
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.Â
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author's intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10104
littlebrown.com
twitter.com/littlebrown
facebook.com/littlebrownandcompany
First ebook edition: September 2016
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-316-30808-3
LCCN 2015958011
E3_20160805_DANF
