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Reviewed by Carmen Tenorio for Readers' Favorite
Listening to Chopin While Fighting Nazis by Alex Charns brings together a novella and a memoir about a Polish-American family's multigenerational battle against fascism. The first part, Twenty Angels on Her Roof, is a fictional story set during World War II in Poland. It follows a 12-year-old sentry named Basia. After the Nazis took away her father and brother for running an illegal radio receiver and smuggling Jews, Basia started hallucinating and talking to religious statues and a legion of Jewish angels. She plots to assassinate an SS officer. The second part, Listening to Chopin While Fighting Nazis, is a memoir by Basia’s son, the author Alex Charns. He looks back on his family history and learns that his grandfather was a brave, anti-Nazi hero but was also an anti-semite at the same time. He explains what happened in the family and how they shaped him, pushing him toward law and speaking up against police corruption. Near the end of the story, Alex goes to Poland with Basia as they confront the physical remains of her childhood home alongside the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Listening to Chopin While Fighting Nazis by Alex Charns is a deeply relevant book that looks at how family history shapes our own fight against injustice. It’s in the messy truth that even the “heroes” still carry deep prejudices. This helps you see that history is complicated. It encourages us to go back to our roots and stand up for civil rights today. The author’s writing is vivid and layered. He smoothly shifts from the tense, fast-paced magical realism of a child’s wartime imagination to a hard, legally precise, and thoughtful journalistic memoir. The prose uses descriptions of celestial elements, historical settings, and family remnants that anchor and keep the story grounded. It’s a powerful work that is masterfully put together and balanced even when the themes get complicated. Recommended to readers of historical fiction, multi-generational memoirs, and social justice advocates. It’s ideal for anyone who likes stories of wartime resistance, family legacies, faith, hope, and the ongoing struggle against discrimination.
