Review | Inspired by Auschwitz survivors, Heather Morris’ debut novel finds hope amid acute tragedy
Plus, Imogen Hermes Gowar’s richly evocative first book spins a sumptuous yarn set against the backdrop of Georgian London
by Heather Morris
Bonnier
★★★★
The Tattooist of Auschwitz, like Thomas Keneally’s Booker Prize-winning Schindler’s Ark, is a work of fiction inspired by real events. Born in what is now Slovakia, 24-year-old Lale Sokolov is sent to Auschwitz in 1942. Having survived the brutal journey, he enters a hell of vicious dogs and soldiers killing at random: in one nerve-jangling scene, Lale witnesses the casual murder of three prisoners, guilty of using the toilet at night.
Heather Morris narrates Lale’s life in the camp in the present tense, flashing back to his life before the Nazi invasion. The title refers to the job he is eventually assigned: the tatowierer, who scrawls numbers onto the skin of prisoners who escape the gas chambers (his own tattoo reads 32407). The novel is frequently horrifying: one chilling encounter involves Josef Mengele. At the end we learn that, unbeknown to Lale, his parents were also sent to Auschwitz and murdered on arrival. But miraculously, there is also hope.
Lale’s philosophy is one of defiant optimism: to help where he can, to connect where he can, believe where he can, and even fall in love with Gita (No 34902). Powerful beyond words.
by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Penguin