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9780714550626

A Tale of One January

By Albert Maltz

ISBN: 9780714550626

192 pages

RRP: Original price was: £8.99.Current price is: £7.19.

A novel about an affirmation in man’s ability, not only to survive, but to recreate himself, to rise above the suffering and viciousness through which he has passed – The Times

Poland, January 1945. Two women and four men escape from a Nazi death march. Each is from a different background and a different country, but all have endured the horrors of imprisonment in Auschwitz. They find refuge in an abandoned factory, and suddenly they realize that they are no longer mere numbers. Even in their wild euphoria at being free, however, they can have no certainty about their future.

This is a tale of exploding joy within a hothouse of fear, a tale of human beings erupting into life after breaking free of the embrace of death – an unusual and moving tale that cements Albert Maltz’s reputation as a compassionate observer of character and one of the finest storytellers of his generation.

Contains an introduction by Patrick Chura, Distinguished Professor, University of Akron

Read our interview with Patrick Chura

Find out more about award-winning short story writer and respected novelist Albert Maltz

Part of Calder Publications imprint

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REVIEWS

  • Evocative, accessible language dominates… Amid the pain and tragedy they face, there are surprising moments of lightness, and of laughter and sardonic gallows humor… the novel’s revival is long overdue. It is a necessary addition to Holocaust literature.

    Foreword Reviews

  • Maltz relates a moving story, each incident and each character a telling detail in an overall portrait of a world gone mad and slowly trying to heal. His method is Socialist Realism and he is one of America’s masters at the game.

    Eric A. Gordon
    People's World

  • The narration is from the point of view of two women, one French, the other Dutch, whom the Nazis have widowed. The style is touchingly simple… their hopes and fears of rehabilitation come across convincingly and his background details are painfully vivid

    Times Literary Supplement

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  • A Tale of One January is dark, rosy, and thrilling. In it there is not only death, but also an unexpected degree of wit, and a sexual tension that permeates throughout their time hiding out in an abandoned brick factory.

    Jacobin Magazine

  • A story of heroism and compassion… The climax of this novel is a stirring affirmation in man’s ability, not only to survive, but to recreate himself, to rise above the suffering and viciousness through which he has passed

    Morning Star

  • A short, harsh, exciting story

    Punch

  • In the talk and laughter of this small group, a little bit of civilization returns to Europe. It is a touching story, compassionately told

    Glasgow Herald

Albert Maltz

Albert Maltz (1908–85) was a prizewinning American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. His novel The Cross and the Arrow, about the German resistance to the Nazi regime, was distributed to 150,000 American soldiers during the Second World War. He worked on a number of films, including Casablanca, until he was blacklisted during the period of Cold War anti-Communist hysteria. He is best remembered today for his novels A Tale of One January and The Journey of Simon McKeever.

Find out more about award-winning short story writer Albert Maltz

 

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