Liv’s Secrets by Janet Levine
https://www.amazon.com/Livs-Secrets-Janet-Levine-ebook/dp/B0BSZ5BBKH
Liv’s Secrets is a passionately envisaged saga of one fictional South African Jewish family, the Weiszs, immigrants from Eastern Europe. One among a great wave of Jewish immigrants in the latter part of the 19th century, washing up mainly in America, but a wavelet of Lithuanian Jews on South Africa’s shores.
Alongside the Weisz family, other characters inhabit the novel where historical figures interact with the fictional cast amid the background of South Africa’s racial turmoil and apartheid’s authoritarian iron fist. Not least of the characters is South Africa itself. Landscape of astonishing beauty and nature’s abundant flora and fauna.
Decades pass, generations of Weisz family members play out the fully fledged saga-romance, first loves, lust, betrayal, true love, despair and elation, cruelty and evil, hope and fulfilment. In the background the chilling reality of World Wars and escalating racial tensions within South Africa that culminate in the bloody Sharpeville Massacre, March 1960, and its aftermath.
From 1960, the saga pivots on the third generation, embodied by Liv Weisz. Five years earlier, a recent divorcee, passionate and headstrong, she heeds the call to become part of the resistance to the authoritarian White apartheid government. And pays an unimaginable price with resounding consequences for many characters, as the country itself undergoes seismic, racially evoked challenges.
About the author
Janet Levine is an award-nominated author of historical fiction and narrative nonfiction, and a journalist whose work explores South African history, human rights, and the enduring power of literature. She is widely recognized for writing that blends rigorous social history with compelling storytelling, appealing to both literary fiction readers and serious nonfiction audiences.
Her latest novel, LIV’S SECRETS, nominated for the 2023 National Book Awards, is a Jewish historical fiction family saga set in South Africa between the 1880s and 1960s. The novel traces the life of Liv Weisz against the backdrop of apartheid-era South Africa, weaving a multigenerational historical narrative that brings personal identity, political change, and intimate human relationships into sharp focus. The book follows Inside Apartheid (1988), her best-selling and critically acclaimed nonfiction work that remains a key text on 20th-century South African history.
Levine is also the author of influential nonfiction, including READING MATTERS: How Literature Influences Life, a widely praised work of literary nonfiction that examines how books shape thinking, empathy, and personal growth. Her nonfiction writing is frequently cited by educators, lifelong readers, and cultural commentators.
A respected voice in literary and cultural discourse, Levine has been interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and is a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books. Her work has reached international readers, and she is known for writing that resonates with book clubs, history enthusiasts, and intellectually curious readers.
Born in South Africa, Janet Levine later immigrated to the United States. She is currently working on a memoir. More information about her books, essays, and ongoing work can be found on her website and Wikipedia author page.
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