Emanuel Bergmann strikes all the right notes in his first novel, The Trick. It's moving, funny, nostalgic, sweet, and thoughtful. Bergmann artfully weaves together the stories of two young boys from different eras who hope for more than what life seems to offer. Moshe, the son of a rabbi in Prague, runs away to join the circus, leaving behind his family and his faith. He learns the magical arts from a seasoned showman before striking out on his own as the Great Zabbatini, a decidedly non-Jewish identity, a necessity under Nazi rule.
Max, a little boy in modern-day southern California finds a record in his dad's old things that includes a love spell by the Great Zabbatini. He hopes that this can bring his divorcing parents back together, so he goes out in search of the old magician. The intersections of these two disaffected lives results in both comic and profound situations.
Bergmann's best bits capture the wide-eyed wonder of these two boys as they step out of their familiar surroundings. We share young Moshe's first glimpses of the drama of magic and the circus, especially the stunning beauty of the magician's assistant (who later becomes his assistant and life companion). We see Max's exposure to the realities of aging, of grown-up problems, and the darkness of certain periods of the past.
Bergmann balances the humorous, sometimes slapstick story with sensitive treatment of Max's feelings about his parents' divorce and Moshe's experiences performing for Nazis while hiding his identity and his survival of the death camps after he is exposed. I enjoyed Bergmann's story-telling style, as he flipped back and forth from Moshe's youth to today. The Trick is a real treat to read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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