Liv’s Secrets

A Novel

Reviews

Review by Armin Lear Press: Liv’s Secrets (April 2023)

Bestselling Author Creates Intense Story of Multi-generational Love and the Fight of an Immigrant Family to Live by their Values.

ESTES PARK, COLORADO, UNITED STATES, April 17, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Today’s release of Janet Levine’s LIV’S SECRETS deepens Armin Lear Press’ commitment to readers seeking an authentic and dramatic take on key historical events. Levine, author of the very popular memoir INSIDE APARTHEID, transports readers to a South Africa where a family of immigrants puts their resources—and hearts—on the line to end apartheid.

LIV’S SECRETS is a passionately envisaged saga of one fictional South African Jewish family, the Weisz family, 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.

Reviews are outstanding and the book has already been nominated for multiple awards:

“Little fiction exists about Jewish experiences in South Africa. In Liv’s Secrets, Janet Levine explores life under a repressive White South African government–a story rich in historical detail and cemented by family and characters that face difficult decisions on how to live their lives and reflect their values and ideals.”
—Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

A five-star review from OnlineBookClub represents a broad range of readers:

“Janet Levine’s Liv’s Secrets is a captivating and well-written novel that tells the story of a South African Jewish family through the eyes of its matriarch, Liv. The book takes the reader on a journey through time, exploring the secrets and mysteries of Liv’s ancestors, while also delving into Liv’s personal life and relationships.”

About Armin Lear Press

Armin Lear was founded with the purpose of publishing books connecting people with ideas that make our lives richer, more fulfilling, and happier. Its founders have 30 years of publishing experience. The company headquarters is near Boulder, CO with a production office in Arlington, VA and a design team near Boston, MA. Armin Lear is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and distributes its books worldwide in English through Ingram.

Click here: Coastal Breeze Review, May, 2023

Review by Diane Donovan: Liv’s Secrets (April 2023)

Liv’s Secrets doesn’t sound like a historical novel, but it comes steeped in the genre’s best trappings of action and facts. It follows a fictional South African Jewish family’s journey from eastern Europe to South Africa, where currents of prejudice and racism follow them to affect their new lives.

A somewhat-daunting list of characters opens the story. While some might translate this to a weighty novel that will feature fluctuating major players and complexity that belays emotional investment in people and outcomes, such a perception could not be further from the truth.

Janet Levine’s approach is designed to introduce and streamline the many characters that interact on the pages and the arena of history, and this prologue and review helps the reader immediately place the characters and their connections.

 Because the story of the Weisz family members evolves over a series of decades and different generations, such a review lends a foundation of knowledge to the story that makes it easier to become involved in its persona and events from the start.

Eighty-eight-year-old narrator Liv opens the tale with a reflection on her present circumstances, the post-apartheid world and memories good and bad that might pass with her.

Her observations of the importance of preserving these experiences for future generations do not go unnoted: 

“We learn history from survivors’ horrific nightmares? Is this all we have to share? Nightmare stories? Our century was one of struggle and strife. Perhaps I’ve lived too long? I am forgetting the beauty of life; the joy, the love, and the surprises.”

As the saga evolves, it becomes a template for other scattered South African Jewish family experiences, revealing the social, political, and emotional ties that are all tested by history and life.

Liv’s first-person introduction leads to third-person descriptions of the 1960s in South Africa and the events which unfold to present new challenges to her family. The timeline that moves from past to present is clearly identified in chapter heading that keep the readers on track about the changing milieu which propels Liv and her family in new directions.

Relatively little fiction has been written about Jewish experiences in South Africa. This fact, combined with Janet Levine’s enticing attention to capturing life under a repressive White South African government and its lasting impact on the psyches of all strata of society, makes for a story that is rich in historical detail, compelling in its social examination, and cemented by family and characters that face difficult decisions on how to live their lives and reflect their values and ideals.

Libraries—especially those strong in cross-cultural fictional exploration of Jewish communities and experience in history—will find Liv’s Secrets a thought-provoking, delightful exploration that ideally will find its way to discussion groups interested in its South African history and Jewish cultural experience in particular.

Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review by Shanesha Sammerson of “Liv’s Secrets” by Janet Levine

5 out of 5 stars

Janet Levine’s Liv’s Secret is a captivating and well-written novel that tells the story of a South African Jewish family through the eyes of its matriarch, Liv. The book takes the reader on a journey through time, exploring the secrets and mysteries of Liv’s ancestors, while also delving into Liv’s personal life and relationships.

The novel explores the themes of family, secrets, love, loss, and identity, and does so in a way that is both poignant and heart-wrenching. Liv is a compelling and complex character, and the reader is drawn into her world as she recounts the stories of her ancestors and grapples with her own conflicting feelings and relationships.

One of the central relationships in the book is Liv’s connection with Rosemary, an old schoolmate with whom she shares a kiss. The way in which Levine portrays Liv’s conflicting emotions and desires is both powerful and realistic. Similarly, Liv’s relationship with Daniel, with whom she works as an African activist, is a cathartic reminder of the complexities of race and privilege in South Africa.

The book also delves into the secrets and mysteries of Liv’s family history, particularly those surrounding Helmut and the circumstances surrounding the death of his first wife during childbirth. As the book progresses, more family secrets are revealed, and the reader is taken on a journey through the joys and tragedies of Liv’s family history. The way in which Levine gradually reveals the secrets and complexities of Liv’s family past is skillful and well-executed.

The characters are well-developed and believable, and the historical setting is vividly portrayed. One of the strengths of Liv’s Secrets is its attention to detail and its evocative portrayal of South African life during the apartheid era. The book paints a vivid picture of the racial and political tensions of the time, and Levine’s writing is both beautiful and haunting. The characters are complex and well-drawn, and the reader is drawn into their stories and struggles.

While the novel is a powerful and engaging read, some readers might be put off by the portrayal of homosexual and incestuous relationships. These elements, although central to the plot, might make the book uncomfortable for some readers. However, Levine handles these sensitive topics with sensitivity and nuance, and they serve to further underscore the book’s themes of secrecy and identity.

In conclusion, Liv’s Secrets is a beautifully written and emotionally charged novel that explores the complexities of family history, identity, and sexuality. While the portrayal of homosexual and incestuous relationships might be excessive for some readers, the book is a thought-provoking and moving read that is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever struggled with their own identity and relationships. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars because I found only minor errors, indicating that it was professionally edited. Adults who enjoy historical fiction should read it.