What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper

What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper

What the Night Sings is a historical fiction novel told through the perspective of a Jewish girl named Gerta Rauch. Initially, the story begins with her liberation from a concentration camp called Bergen-Belsen. It then switches back to her early childhood, the concentration camp, and finally to her independence. Her adjustment to freedom is difficult, along with adjusting to the memories of three years of horror and starvation. To illustrate, “Everything that Gerta witnesses or experiences really happened in the hell that was the Holocaust, including further humiliations in its aftermath, a rarely told part of the story.” (“Gerta didn’t know,” 2018)

Critical Analysis

The story is in first-person, and the plot is easy to follow despite flashbacks. Gerta’s character is innocent and kind even with everything she has experienced. Themes include resilience, love, friendship, and genocide. Readers may enjoy Monica Hesse’s book They Went Left, a similar story about the Holocaust and transition into life after liberation.

The book’s strength is that it tells a rarely written perspective of Holocaust survivors and their transition into everyday life. Yet, its weakness is due to only being told from one perspective.

Audiobook Details

Reviewed using the unabridged audiobook version using the Axis 360 application. The length of the audiobook is five hours and 41 minutes. Deborah Grausman’s narration was steady and engaging. The author’s endnotes discuss her transition from someone who knew what she wanted to do in life to her unique abilities being taken away from her in a tragic car accident. Her arm became paralyzed, and she could no longer draw. However, she decided to move forward despite the disability, which led her to discover new skills.

References

“Gerta didn’t know.” (2017, October 28). What the Night Sings. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/vesper-stamper/what-the-night-sings/

Stamper, V. (2018). What the Night Sings. (D. Grausman, Narr.) [Audiobook] Listening Library. https://bpls.axis360.baker‑taylor.com/Title?itemId=0020949377&ISBN=9781524700409&isRecommendable=false&collectionType=null