Duty and Passion

Ted Thring is a book reviewer for the Queen’s University radio
station.

The setting for Manny Drukier’s second novel is Toronto’s
Polish-Jewish emigré community. Many of its citizens are survivors of
the Holocaust. Others are descendants of survivors. Consequently the
Holocaust (especially the extermination camp at Treblinka) figures
prominently in the book.

Adam is a survivor of the Holocaust. His nephew, Abraham, is writing a
book about Adam’s experiences. Abraham is also deeply involved in the
community’s day-to-day events and is having a grand time chronicling
its business, social, and romantic goings-on.

Drukier has a keen ear for language and a gift for character
delineation. Though the Abraham storyline is a fine one, it is Adam’s
detailed descriptions of the Polish-Jewish Holocaust experiences that
dominate the book. Even if one has read other works about the Holocaust,
Duty and Passion is a compelling novel.