Introduction

"When we're young we tend to think of memory as something belonging to us. There are good memories and bad ones, but aside from forgetting names occasionally, it is hard to imagine what ceasing to rely on your memory means. My mind still functions enough for me to be frightened and feel diminished. Someday, I hope not too soon, I'll cease to be alarmed...."
           --    Renzo, from After Auschwitz: A Love Story

Two of the 20th century's terrible A's collide in this powerful novel -- Alzheimer's Disease and the Auschwitz death camp.  Brenda Webster brings to bear her considerable knowledge of Jewish and Italian history and culture, personal acquaintance with the families of luminaries like Primo Levi, and a lifetime of psychological insight as she observes the intellectual decline of Renzo, a once brilliant writer and filmmaker.

The novel is set entirely in Rome in 2010, and benefits from the author's comfortable familiarity with the city's haunts, both hidden and famous.  Renzo, aware that he is slipping deeper and deeper into the haze of Alzheimer's, keeps a journal in which he grapples with his complicated marriage to Hannah, who survived the death camps as a child and went on to become a chronicler of that experience.  Renzo knows how painful it is for Hannah to lose yet another loved one -- himself -- as he chronicles his own failing grip on reality.

This story of enduring love -- a love that makes the pain bearable -- inspires hope where there appears to be despair, and allows humor to leaven the loaf of existence.  As Renzo's rich memories of the artistic and intellectual currents of the 20th century begin to fade, highly lyrical passages elucidate his sophisticated anguish and his child-like wonder.

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Excerpt

INTRODUCTION:

The excerpt, below, is from the new book, After Auschwitz: A Love Story, by author, playwright and critic, Brenda Webster. The excerpt takes place at the funeral of a friend of Hannah and Renzo's, causing Renzo to think back on the funeral of the famous writer, Primo Levi. A Holocaust survivor who committed suicide, Primo's funeral -- like this book -- raised uncomfortable issues about how best to navigate the end of life. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1.Theodor Adorno, the German sociologist and theoretician, believed that “to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” How does Brenda challenge that assertion in her new novel? Do you think she chose the title in ironic deference to Adorno’s sad and defeatist statement?

2. What are some of the ways Brenda makes Rome, where the book is set , into a character in the novel?

3. Why do you think Renzo, a non-Jew, feels he must encourage Hannah to work on her successful novels and fulfill her obligation to write as a witness to history. Why does this matter so much to him?

4. How does Hannah's backstory, from her decision not to bring children into a world with such evils to her appreciation for the love of a deeply flawed man, to informs her life?

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