THE BOOK FAIR

Rachael Seiffert

   A BOY IN

    WINTER 

Author:        Rachael Seiffert

Published:    2017

Genre:          Historical Novel

Cover:           E-Book

Pages:           257

Inspired by true events, Seiffert’s unsettling novel unfolds in a small village in the Ukraine in 1942.  The story reveals the effects of the German SS onslaught on the townspeople.  The plot involves three main characters who render their perspectives of the war, a German officer, a former conscripted Ukrainian soldier, and a young, village woman in love.  Distinct descriptions of hunger, cold and fear prevail throughout.  Well-defined minor characters fill in detail.

In hushed, subdued tones, the author depicts the enormous tragedy that befell the Jewish population.  Seiffert juxtaposes the moral dilemma of when in danger, whether to save oneself, or whether to help save another.