The Shopkeeper of Alsace

A novel by Laura Knoy

Reviewed by Dr. Lloyd Sederer

For 25 years Laura Knoy was “the voice of New Hampshire” as a brilliant NPR radio host. Putting her microphone aside, Laura now returns to us in the arresting voice of her first novel, The Shopkeeper of Alsace.

We enter the story in 1915, as the boots of Russian soldiers enter a small town in Poland to prosecute their war against Germany. History has a lengthy record, continuing to today, of countries living by the credo of “might makes right”, however unconscionable their invasion(s) may be. Unbridled, as war does with men sent to kill the enemy, and those it pleases, we witness the invading soldiers tyrannize a family of prosperous – Jewish – merchants.

This motherless family - a father, his five children, and several in-laws and grandchildren (my, how family demographics have changed in the past half a century) load their wagon and flee, in the dark of night their home, business, and rooted lives through two Wars, in the dark of night, taking with them everything of value they could carry. Their possessions would be the currency they would need to survive.

There was no choice but to flee, to escape the lawlessness ushered in when foreign armies occupied their native countries. Why are there no notable “Wars” for kindness? What might be the spoils of winning? Even if not material in nature? (You may not want to watch any of the many streaming CGI TV documentaries depicting the “survival of the fittest” before answering this question.)

Ms. Knoy paints a forceful and poignant picture of how flight, relentless persistence, and resettlement were repeatedly achieved in Europe to stay alive through the deadly ravages of both the Great War and World War II. They may not make the grade for any “Marvel” movies, but they work and require less warfare training.

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Resilience, I learned from leading NYC’s government response to 9/11 (and other disasters, large and small), is a capacity that we all harbor, docked and available to deploy when needed. But we need to find its resting place and untie its moorings to realize the (often unexpected) support we need to see adversity to its end.

As the USA seeks to brave the awful consequences of federal leadership gone awry - led by impulse, greed, foolhardiness, and disinterest in the public good, the portrayals of courage, determination, and unity in Knoy’s book are crucial reminders of the powers housed within us – waiting to employ.

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Lloyd Sederer, MD, is a former NYC Commissioner of Mental Health and former CMO of the NYS Office of Mental Health. He has published 14 non-fiction books.

www.askdrlloyd.com