No place to lay their heads

Armando Lucas Correa’s new novel isn’t flawless, but it’s an engaging work of historical fiction that tugs at the conscience. Its primary storyline chronicles the journey of two Jewish families who flee Nazi Germany in 1939 after being promised asylum in Cuba. At the center are the charmingly intelligent 12-year-old Hannah Rosenthal and her moody best friend Leo Martin. As the ship approaches Cuba, the promise of safe passage crumbles. The passengers, moored between countries, face difficult questions about how to live into a future in which they are likely to be killed.

The story plays with various layers of identity, both internal and external. Before she leaves Germany, Hannah is often mistaken for a Christian:

It was hard for the Ogres to spot what I was. I could sit on the park benches forbidden to us and could enter tram carriages reserved for the pure race. If I’d wanted to, I also could have bought a newspaper. Leo used to say I was able to pass for anyone. I didn’t have any mark on the outside, although inside I had the stigma from all four grandparents that the Ogres detested so much.