Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences.
Today we are featuring WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS by Vesper Stamper.
At the opening of WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS, sixteen-year-old Gerta is skeletally thin and sick with typhus. The Nazi concentration camp where she has been incarcerated has just been liberated. She has survived by being a member of the camp orchestra. Play her father’s viola is comforting and allows her to feel close to him, but Gerta’s true love is singing. Because of the horrific living conditions in the camp, her vocal chords have been damaged, maybe permanently.
It’s a sorrowful twist that Gerta didn’t even know she was Jewish. In fear of the uprising hatred toward Jews, her family hid their religion, even from her. Her father had gone so far as acquiring forged identity papers to keep them safe. Liberation from the camp intensifies Gerta’s struggle with her identity. When she and her father were incarcerated, Gerta was just a child. Now she is a teenager old enough to be married, but alone, living in a British displacement camp with no family, no home, and no idea who she is. As she sees the other survivors moving past surviving into living, Gerta is lost.
She develops a friendship with Lev, an Orthodox Jewish teen from Poland. Though Lev has also lost everything, he is sure of who he is and who he wants to be. As music helped Gerta through the darkest days, religion helped Lev survive. Lev clearly adores Gerta and wants more from their relationship. But for Gerta to move past the horrors she has experienced and embrace life, she has to find a way to trust in her own ability to guide her future and find her voice again.
WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS is a beautiful story of remembrance that speaks to the power of music. For those who don’t think you need another Holocaust book, I’d urge you to read this one too. Told from the perspective of a secular Jewish teenager in the period after liberation, the story is unique. Vesper Stamper doesn’t shy away from the horrors. They are delivered to the page in heart-wrenching detail. But fluttering with the despair, the detailed hopes and dreams of other survivors rebuilding their lives almost feels magical. The magnetic pull of the narration is undeniable, and you can’t help but worry that, despite surviving, Gerta will be forever lost. There’s a particularly important scene with a wedding dress that is shared by many of the survivors that will stick with me for a very long time. Thinking on it gives me a breathless feeling and a desperate urge to right the wrongs of the Holocaust or jump in a time machine to stop it before it started.
Vesper Stamper’s gorgeous illustrations perfectly complement the story, making this incredible journey of the heart even more immersive. The bigotry that the survivors face comes alive in the closing chapters. With the recent murders at the Tree of Life synagogue, I can’t help but think how important these stories are for all of us to read, not just to remember but to try to understand the continuing tragedy of the Holocaust, the value of human dignity and respect, and the importance of helping our youth understand the principles our country was founded on. One of my relatives was friends with Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, a beloved family physician known for his compassionate care of HIV patients, who was killed in the attack at the Tree of Life. I’ve become a bit obsessed with learning about his life and his gentleness, so I’m happy to see that Vesper Stamper is doing an Instagram tribute to the eleven victims who were murdered. Please join me in her remembrance for them.
My favorite stories make me think and feel, and WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS ignited both of those reading passions. The Author’s Notes are a powerful complement to the story and are not to be missed.
WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS has won numerous starred reviews and accolades, including being on the longlist for the National Book Award. This powerful journey of heart and soul should be required reading for everyone 13+. It is available at your favorite bookstore, makes a wonderful audiobook listen, and is available at libraries. I highly recommend getting your hands on this one as soon as you can.
Vesper Stamper is an illustrator and author who draws and writes at her grandfather’s old drafting table in the pine woods of the Northeast under the leaves of an orange tree her husband gifted to her when she completed her MFA in illustration. She was born in Nuremberg, Germany and WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS is a reflection on her personal journey with Jewish identity. To learn more about Vesper Stamper visit her website. While you’re there, enjoy her lovely portfolio. You can also connect with Vesper Stamper on Twitter or Instagram.
