A Well-Written Novel with Food for Thought
By chance, I came across this book on Amazon. Being a retired pharmacist myself, I was curious to read this book written by a fellow retired pharmacist, Richard Brumer, who became a novelist. In my honest opinion, he wrote a great novel that holds one’s interest on every page. Quite a few doctors have become successful writers and this is the first time that I had come across a pharmacist trying his luck in writing a novel.
The story begins with Miklos Rosen, a pharmacologist and pharmacist, who came from a small village, Szentendre, near Budapest. He was married to a beautiful woman, Ilona, who he loved very much. They had three small daughters, twins Roza and Magda, eight years old and Eva, aged five. These girls were the apples of his eye. His marriage was the ideal marriage. Everything was going for them until the Nazis invaded his home village and took him, his daughters and wife to Auschwitz where they perished. Miklos survived and eventually landed up in a small town near New York. In the US he never remarried and returned to his studies in pharmacology and pharmacy becoming a professor and lecturing to pharmacy students.
In 1970 he retired from academic life and he opened a pharmacy called The Chemist Shop. He was basically lonely and his memories of his wife and daughters, whom he cherished had remained with him over the years, never diminishing. In the US he became known as Professor Michael Ross.
His customers, Harry Sanders and his wife, Hilda became friendly with him and during a conversation, Harry Sanders was interested in finding a chess partner. Michael, who had not played chess for many years was keen to have him over to his home where they could play chess together. It was the way that Harry laughed, his steely blue eyes and German accent that reminded Michael of the SS Nazi Officer, Hans Stern, who was responsible for the murder of his wife and daughters in Auschwitz. He was convinced that Hans Stern and Harry Sanders was one and the same person. His mind took over and he kept on dreaming of how to get his revenge on Harry. The story fills one with a desire to read the book in one sitting.
Michael became obsessed with finding ways to kill Harry. During this time he thought of nothing else. He was a normative person, well-liked and respected by his customers. He had many conflicts in his mind how to seek retribution for the loss of his wife and children.
One must bear in mind that this story is fiction and one must accept it as that. However, as the story develops the reader is faced with the question “How would I react if faced with a similar situation, where I come face to face with a Nazi murderer of my wife and children?”
Each chapter never ends on what will happen next or any cliff hanger but mildly leads you into the next chapter which is a continuation of the previous chapter. This is what adds a certain amount of realism to the story, even though there is a certain touch of surrealism which is not exaggerated but somehow blends into a reasonable situation that could take place.
The book has a surprise ending that one would never really expect. This book is really well written and I would definitely recommend it.
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