Gravedigger's Daughter - Bev Russell, Library Director

(This column appeared in the January 20, 2008, Star-Herald)

I have a 100 page rule (Sometimes I shorten it to 50 pages). If I can not get interested in a book after 100 pages, I do not read it. At one time in my life, I felt that I had to read every book I picked up. Now that I am older, I no longer do. Life is too short. A friend recently recommended "The Gravedigger’s Daughter" by Joyce Carol Oates to me. This book put me to the 100 page test. The opening chapters set the stage for what will come later. My friend said, "Just keep reading. It will all come together." I stuck it out and am glad I did.

"The Gravedigger’s Daughter" is about violence, secrets, escape and survival. It tells the story of Rebecca Schwart, the daughter of German immigrants. Although the book never comes right out and says it, the reader realizes, through inference, that the Schwart’s are Jews who escaped from Nazi Germany. Rebecca’s father Jacob tries to hide this fact, but he is only fooling himself. In Germany, Jacob was a respected man of learning—a teacher. When the family arrives in upstate New York, the only job he can find is as a gravedigger. He is humiliated to have become a common laborer. The Schwart’s live in the squalor of a stone hovel at the cemetery and are treated as less than dirt by the community. Jacob’s fall from grace, and his feelings of shame and guilt, which are connected to his escape, gradually drives a wedge between him and his family. Insanity will eventually overtake him, and he will slaughter his wife and blow his own head off. Rebecca, who witnesses this carnage, barely escapes with her life.

Rebecca and her two brothers grow up in this abnormal environment. Rebecca’s brothers are dolts. Rebecca rarely has anyone whom she can call a friend. Her one hope is that her mother’s family will also escape Germany, and she will become acquainted with her cousin. She briefly lives in a fantasy world, imagining her happy life when her cousin finally arrives. When the ship, carrying her relatives, is turned away in New York Harbor, Rebecca’s mother retreats into her own insanity.

Following the violent death of her parents, Rebecca escapes the darkness of that existence to a violent marriage, which she will also flee. Again, she barely escapes with her life after a brutal beating. The novel follows her as she assumes a new identity and perseveres. She will survive with her secrets and raise her son while hiding the past.

"The Gravedigger’s Daughter" is not for someone who wants a light read. It is a thought provoking, demanding and draining book. When you finish the book, it stays with you as you wonder about the meaning of it all. Reviewers have called this Joyce Carol Oates’ masterpiece. I can not say if it is her masterpiece, but I can say that this is a book that demands discussion although it will probably be too long for the typical discussion group. If you are looking for a book with some meat to it, read Joyce Carol Oates dark and haunting "The Gravedigger’s Daughter".

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