Day After Night: A Novel

Even in the toughest of times, life is about relationships. And how those connections offer hope and strength to get through anything.

This story of an unknown bit of the post-WWII Jewish struggle is a delight to read.Anita Diamant writes, in this character-driven story, about a British-run concentration camp in Northern Palestine shortly after WWII. Saying "concentration" camp, sets off all sorts of emotional triggers for many, but this camp was really a safe place for displaced European Jews. It was a place where they could learn to be Jews. It was a stopping point for those traveling to Palestine after surviving the Holocaust. But none-the-less, it is a camp, from which the internees were forbidden to leave until the Brits could obtain entry permits and placements for them.Still, many entering the camp did not know what it is, and having experienced atrocities during the war, and they thought (as they entered the camp) that this was another of the same.The four women Diamant portrays have been through hell. One was a prisoner who was raped on a daily basis. Another a resistant fighter who killed and raided as necessary, but doesn't understand that what she did made her a hero to many. A third lost everything and everyone while being shuttled from hiding place to hiding place. And the fourth. There is a suggestion that she survived a camp. It was bad enough that she cannot even think of it.As history runs its course, the camp is eventually liberated. There is one death. The women gather together for one final moment, then all are dispersed. There is a final glimpse that they survived and flourished.I give nothing away by telling this much. It is history, and I suggest doing a Google search of the camp to learn the skeleton of history from which Diamant wove this story. Diamant has a wonderful voice from which we previously heard in  The Red Tent: A Novel . This book is also a gem that is worth reading.

This is a historical fiction account of a period of time in Israel's history right after the end of WWII, while the British were still in power in that part of the world, and before Israel became a state or had its war of independence. It describes life amongst a certain group of mostly women who survived WWII and the Holocaust in Europe, forced to remain in an internment camp just outside of Haifa, until they would either be allowed to enter Israel proper, as future citizens, or shipped off to a displaced persons camp in Cyprus or sent back to Europe. The book describes everyday life in such a DP camp, and thru flashbacks, describes the worst experiences almost all of these women had in Europe before coming to the future, Israel. It is a sad accounting of what most of us already knew, that war is hell, and that the Jews of Europe went thru a worse hell than most others in Europe in WWII. In the end, the women escape from the DP camp, with the help of the Haganah and a nearby group of kibbutznik Israelis, so as to settle all over Israel and start their new lives. It is a truly happy ending and also a truthful account of what was often possible in such British DP camps, though not always the case. The British were very pro-Arab at that time, they did not often help Jewish DPs, and were only too eager to send them back to Europe or a camp in Cyrpus, indefinitely. They also gave up land and militarily, strategic positions, in the future Israel to Arabs, so that the Arabs would have an advantage over the Jews when the war of independence finally arrived. The book portrays too many British officers or servicemen as being benevolent and supportive to the Jewish DPs, which may not have been very close to reality. Otherwise, it was an easy and, at times, encouraging historical account of those times in Israel.

Friendship is at the heart of Diamant's new book, Day After Night. The novel is a testament to the bonds of womanly friendship as four Holocaust survivors try to adjust to life in an internment camp called Atlit set up by the British in Palestine.They come from four different sets of Holocaust experiences, all leaving them emotionally scarred and fragile.In the barbed wire confines of Atlit, they try to cope with an uncertain future while still having to cope with an immediate past of loss and horror. Each faces the process in their own unique way be it altruism or denial and in coping they lean on one another forming new bonds of healing and renewal.Although Atlit provides them with good food, ample supplies etc, an all important ingredient is missing.........freedom. An escape plan is set in motion by the Palmach. Each of the women are involved and the path is set for an escape to true freedom in a Palestinian kibbutz.The photo on the cover is a wonderful way to sum up the heart of the novel.............women holding each other in support and finding joy in the circle of warmth that allows them to finally dance with joy!!Diamant gives great insight into a little known time in history when scarred Holocaust lives found a way to move out of the darkness of post WW11 into the light of the new Palestine.

I chose this book expecting great things having read "The Red Tent" which was a fascinating read which gripped me all the way through. However I was disappointed by "Day After Night" as it was a bit of a non-story. The internment camp where the immigrants without papers were imprisoned was not at all harsh. In fact the only hardship seemed to be the fact that they were locked in. They had clean warm beds, had free access to medical treatment, seemed to be able to work or not as they pleased, had plenty of food to eat, even parties for feast days etc. and were generally treated kindly by staff. In fact the Officer in charge of the camp was in the picture about the rescue plan and did nothing to hinder it. True they had been through hell before they got there but that was not the main thrust of the story. Many were very quickly released if a relation came and claimed them and it seemed more of a temporary safe holding place than a prison. Also there were quite a few loose ends at the end that left me wondering what happened to certain characters. Disappointing.

I feel that Anita Diamant's Red Tent was far better than this book. Mainly due to the way that it is written, it's more geared towards those that understand this part of history as opposed to someone who is new to the subject. I felt that Anita should not have included so much foreign vocabulary and could have maybe elaborated a little more.However, I understood and it was an enjoyable read just not as wonderful as the Red Tent.

This book had such depth and meaning, focusing on the relationship between women who have faced real turmoil. Although the subject matter is dark, it is told in a binding way which had me stuck to the pages.

I enjoyed this book, its look at life in Palestine after the last war is a fairly strong one. I would have liked more on the four women that inhabit the book and less on the build up to the escape, but thats nit picking. All in all its a good read, ecept for the irritating and modern phrase uttered twice. "I could care less." Hate it, hate it, hate it. The phrase is..I could'nt care less! If you can care less, it means, you care...

Although I preferred The Red Tent this was also a most enjoyable read with Anita Diamant demonstrating again her knowledge of Jewish people, their history and culture. Well written, and thought provoking.