Synopsis

WWII-era novel celebrates female friendships and the resilience of the human spirit

THE CORSET MAKER a historical novel

The master planner of rebuilding Ground Zero, world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, has created a new piece of art for the cover of “The Corset Maker,” the forthcoming historical fiction novel by his sister, author Annette Libeskind Berkovits. The novel–loosely inspired by their mother’s real-life story–is a powerful addition to the genre of 20th-century historical fiction, and is slated for release on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022.

In Warsaw, Poland, the young Rifka Berg, raised in an ultra-Orthodox home, asks her father why girls don’t have bar mitzvahs. Eventually, his answer provokes Rifka to risk
everything. In a bold move, unheard of at the time, teenage Rifka and her close friend, Bronka, open their own business–a corset shop on the most fashionable street in Warsaw. Rifka yearns to read forbidden literature and explore the world beyond the confines of her small community.

Her wishes come true, albeit harrowingly when the tumultuous events of the 20th century take her on a journey for survival. A Parisian Count, a Moroccan arms smuggler, and an orphaned Spanish boy will test the convictions and tug at Rifka’s heart. Faced with life and death situations, Rifka will have to take immense risks. She will have to decide if there is ever a time to abandon her principles for a higher purpose. What decisions will she make? Will circumstances choose for her?

In this unforgettable journey, Rifka becomes embroiled in some of the most violent events of the century: the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine, the Spanish Civil War, and the Nazi occupation of Southern France. As her involvement deepens, she sees firsthand how autocratic rule deprives people of even the simplest freedoms.

Rifka’s personal struggles and dilemmas go to the heart of the major ethical issues and challenges of our time.

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This book releases on March 8, 2022. Preorder today!

Praise

“‘The Corset Maker’ is a compelling story of girlhood, war, survival – and against all odds, a story of finding out who you truly are. It is a beautifully written journey that weaves together the personal and the historical. I was gripped by this unique and courageous protagonist – and found myself alongside her throughout the book. It is without a doubt one of the most fascinating and meaningful books I have read.”  — Rachel Arnow, artist and author of “Kinder Kalender,” “All the World From A-Z,” and “The Wild West;” Berlin, Germany

“With her eloquent and captivating writing Annette Berkovits transports one to the riveting saga of survival, resilience, and ingenuity of a young woman from Warsaw, Poland. Set mainly in the twists and turns of the first half of 20th century Europe, ‘The Corset Maker’ ignites the reader’s imagination of history and brings to life the hard choices and challenges facing young people during that time. The story concludes with an unexpected ending in the last decade of the century. I simply could not put the book down.” — Zvi Jankelowitz, Director of Institutional Advancement, Yiddish Book Center; Massachusetts

“This sweep of twentieth-century European history seen through the eyes of a young Orthodox Jewish woman is a truly gripping read.” — Joanna Orwin, award-winning author of “Shifting Currents;” Christchurch, New Zealand

Excerpt

RIFKA, WARSAW, 1928

Twelve-year-old Rifka paced the bedroom pondering her father’s morning blessing: Blessed are you, Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has not made me a woman. Why did Poppa rejoice not having been born a woman? It upset Rifka every time she heard it. Worse than upset, it made her plain crazy. She could not figure out why a man as intelligent as Poppa couldn’t understand such prayer was hurtful to the women in his family and there were eight of them, including herself, Golda in Palestine, and Momma. Saul was the only boy in the family.

After dinner when Poppa seemed relaxed in his chair with a little glass of schnapps in his hand, Rifka addressed him. She admired his wisdom and wanted him to see her as someone worthy of engaging in a discussion. “Poppa, why are you thankful not to be a woman?”

Instead of taking her seriously he lifted his eyes toward Rifka and looked at her intently, as if he hadn’t seen her for a long time. “My, my, you sure have grown since last year. If you were a boy, you’d be ready to study for your bar mitzvah.”

The unexpected words hurt. “Why can’t girls have a special ceremony to show they’ve matured?”

“But they do.” Poppa smiled broadly. “They have a wedding. Soon you will be a bride.”

Rifka felt so offended she stood silent momentarily, but not wanting Poppa to digress from her original question, she refrained from an outburst that sat devilishly at the tip of her tongue. “So about the blessing…” she said.

“Some questions shouldn’t be asked,” Poppa had said with an annoyed look, and he picked up his paper though Rifka was nowhere near finished.

“But Poppa…”

“You ask too many questions. Why don’t you go help Momma?” With that Father disappeared in the pages of Today’s News.

Rifka charged out of the room, her cheeks burning with resentment. Why was her father always involved in spirited discussions with his synagogue friends, but when it came to her it was as if she were nothing?

Well… He didn’t converse much with Momma either, except to say what he wanted for dinner.

In the bathroom, Rifka splashed cool water on her face, her outrage still red hot. Like a dispassionate critic, she stared at the mirror, something she did now and then to understand what men who ogled her on the street saw in her. She certainly didn’t consider herself beautiful

and was oblivious of the effect her appearance had on the opposite sex: teenage boys at the synagogue casting sidelong glances or their fathers’ unchaste smiles. She did not appreciate the red glints or the stubbornness of her abundant chestnut curls, or the small beauty mark on the side of her upper lip. Her almond-shaped green eyes and olive skin stood out among the faces of her peers, and even among her fair complexioned sisters. At barely four- foot-eight, Rifka was short and felt her breasts were too large for her small boned, hourglass frame. She

hoped that her full, heart-shaped lips compensated for this anatomical defect. By age twelve and a half, Momma had said, “It’s time I make you a starter brassiere,” confirming Rifka’s self-assessment. But her looks were the least of her interests. She was more engrossed in thinking about her place in the world.

She had to do something to show her father how wrong he was to dismiss her that way.

By morning, Rifka had her solution. So, what if it was outrageous? He needed strong medicine to rouse him from his obtuseness.

When Poppa went out to visit his friend and her mother took the children to shoot the breeze with a neighbor, Rifka found his daily prayer book. She hesitated a moment, then picked up the siddur, stroked the embossed letters on the cover and kissed it. Wetness filled her eyes. She found the page with the offensive blessing, and she stared at it. Tears ran down her cheeks. It blasphemed against half the humans on earth!

In a flash, she ripped out the page, slammed the book shut and replaced it on the little table. A ring at the front door interrupted her act of rebellion. Her heart beat faster.

Filled with apprehension she tiptoed toward the door and listened. After a moment Bronka’s voice brought relief, “Come on, open up. I need to pee.”

She let her friend in. “Quick! I am so happy it’s you.”

Bronka jumped up on one leg, then the other, and eyed Rifka. “What’s the matter? You have a wild look in your eyes. What are you clutching in your hand?”

“I’ll tell you when you come out of the bathroom. Hurry!”

While she waited for Bronka, the enormity of her act began to register. She’d desecrated the holy book. The crumpled page in her hand stung as if sheíd grasped a scorpion. What to do with it?

Bronka appeared in the kitchen where Rifka stood in total consternation. “You have the look of a thief on your face,” her friend said.

“I’ve done something terrible and very stupid. I’d not tell another soul in the world. You are the only person I can trust, but I’m not sure it’s right to draw you into my crime.”

“Crime? Donít be so melodramatic.”

Rifka opened her palm and the crumpled page lay there accusingly. Bronka stepped closer, leaned over to look at the ball. “What is that? I see Hebrew letters on it.”

“I tore a page from my father’s Talmud.”

Bronka inhaled loudly in shock. “Why on earth…?”

Rifka began to explain, but her friend said, “Let’s cover your crime, fast, before anyone else shows up.” She picked up a small bowl and matches from near the stove and threw the paper in.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Rifka screamed.

The lit match erupted into a mini bonfire as the two girls stood watching with a mixture of horror and guilt.

Rifka pleaded with Bronka. “I beg you, never tell anyone.”

“Did you forget our loyalty pledge we swore in the first grade? It was forever and ever.”

“Poppa will kill me if he discovers the page missing.”

“Don’t worry. I have a great idea,” Bronka said, but Rifka stood looking dubious. “Let me run home quickly and bring my father’s siddur.”

“But… I can’t… It wouldn’t be right,” Rifka said.

That prayer book was all Bronka had left of him.

“Just let me get going.” Bronka ran out the door.

It didn’t take more than twenty minutes and they replaced the desecrated book with a nearly identical copy.

“What would I ever do without you, Bronka? You are my savior.”

“Never mind, you’d do the same for me.”

Luckily, it turned out Poppa didn’t notice the switch and continued to recite the blessing. Rifka concluded Poppa would never change. But what cheered her most was that Bronka would never change either. She could always count on her.

Interview

Why did you choose a corset maker as a protagonist of a historical novel that deals with some of the bloodiest events of the twentieth century?

It seemed to me that precisely because a woman who spends time designing undergarments would probably be an excellent example of a woman furthest away from violence. But that’s not how real life happens. Life takes people into directions they’d have never imagined. The corset maker in my novel was inspired by my mother and her three friends who themselves experienced the brutality of the times from the 1930s to the end of WWII and beyond. These were women who found incredible courage under impossible circumstances. I hope that my protagonist can inspire young women of today who often see violence in the media and have no idea how they would react if faced with a real-life circumstance of theirs, or their loved ones lives in danger.

Most historical novels of that period deal with one huge event—say WWII alone is enough of a subject for many books—yet you’ve woven together not one, not two, but three or more violent events: pre-WWII antisemitic attacks on Jews; the Arab—Jewish conflict in Palestine; the Spanish Civil War and WWII in Southern France. Why include all of these?

Well..it is as you say ambitious, but for some women, the events of the twentieth century, one of the bloodiest in history, actually threw them into such events in a serial manner. This was the case with the women who inspired the novel. My own mother for example escaped the antisemitism in Poland to find herself in the midst of the Arab revolt in Palestine, then found herself at the outbreak of WWII in Warsaw, Poland on September 1, 1939, and after she escaped that hell, she wound up in a brutal Soviet gulag in Siberia. I was interested in exploring what inner resources keep such women going, what gave them strength to survive. I also wanted to spotlight how young women, in particular, can sometimes make spur of the moment decisions that can alter the course of their entire lives.

What about the male characters in your novel? How did you happen to invent them?

I started with a very young, curious protagonist and I knew that her insular religious community wouldn’t be enough for her, especially not after she enrolled in a secular school at the behest of her grandmother who was a woman ahead of her times. I just knew that her hormones would begin to make an impact, so meeting a man—well, it had to happen. But how would she react to him? And what if he was a man of a very different social status, a Parisian Count, no less? That’s the stuff of moving the plot forward. Of course in her long life there would be other men, for other reasons.

It is interesting that you placed this young woman of orthodox Jewish upbringing in a monastery in Spain. Why there?

So this is a good example of how life can take someone to unplanned places. Readers will find out why and how Rifka got there and why she chose to devote a portion of her life to care for orphans. In some ways, this experience was a foundation for her future growth as a woman. And in the monastery, she tried to give the children the kind of education she wanted to have, but of course, some of it had to be subversive. There was, in fact, a lot of tension during the Spanish Civil war between nuns who supported the democratically elected government on the Republican side and those who supported Franco’s forces. He of course eventually won and became a dictator who ruled for thirty-five years.

About the Author

Annette Libeskind Berkovits is the author of two acclaimed memoirs: “In the Unlikeliest of Places: How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags and Soviet Communism” a story of her father’s survival, and “Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator.” She has also penned a poetry book, “Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted.” “The Corset Maker” is her first novel.

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About the Designer

Daniel Libeskind is an internationally renowned architect, known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and the Dublin Performing Arts Center in Ireland, among many others. His Master Plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center site in New York City was selected in 2003 and has served as the blueprint for the entire site, including the Freedom Tower, the Memorial, the Museum, and the PATH Terminal.