Title: Were The Angels Wrong?
By: Saul Golubcow
Wildside Press
This page-turning murder mystery thriller, craftily written by Saul Golubcow, is comprised of so much more than a Sherlock Holmes find-the-killer genre. For those with a background of enjoying mysteries like Agatha Christie’s, you will be pleased that this quenches the thirst for the suspenseful who-dunit novel. While reading Golubcow’s previous Frank Wolf books, The Cost of Living and Other Mysteries or Who Killed the Rabbi’s Wife? is not essential to appreciating this latest release, I highly recommend doing so for their own suspenseful adventures.
This new nail-biting story becomes so much more engrossing and meaningful when the Jewish, and even frummy, elements are revealed and become inherent in the characters’ search for truth and justice. The title plays on this theme that we Yidden are caretakers of the world.
Angels are not characters in this novel, but are referenced throughout, as the novel picks up on the midrash to Tehillim 115:16, where the angels object to “…the earth He has given to mankind…” It is our goal to perform G-dly acts so that mankind and the earth can flourish. This theme of doing good and right resonates throughout while intertwined with the scabs of the Holocaust still raw and the challenges of life anew in the medina of America, and specifically New York, where the story takes place in the mid-1970s.
The main character is Frank Wolf, a Holocaust survivor, who lives with his widowed daughter Molly (Malkeh) in Brooklyn and is a successful private detective specializing in cases within the local Jewish communities. Frank’s grandson and Malkeh’s only child, Joel, is a young attorney who assists his grandfather. Frank is once again called upon unexpectedly when Malkeh’s suitor is accused of murdering an acquaintance from the Old Country.
Memories of the Holocaust reverberate throughout and are a constant presence in the mindset of the characters – and have an effect on almost every one of them: Frank, Malkeh, the accused murderer Martin, and the eccentric stepson Peter. The historical references and their still-lingering consequences are important reminders to the reader that these days are not so far behind us, and we, even the second and third generations, are still suffering from the repercussions. Yet this background provides the opportunity to show the hope and resilience that all of the characters display and how they moved forward with their resolve, gratitude, and new lives.
As Saul Golubcow notes in his Acknowledgments at the end of the novel, “…As a child of survivors, I grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust. The horrors that had engulfed my parents stayed with them, but did not define them. They found rays of light by starting a new family and modeling for my sister and me that while my family suffered extraordinarily and were victims, we were not to behave as victims. Instead, we were to work toward brightening our own lives and contributing to our greater communities. But early on I knew that the darkness of the individuals who went through the Holocaust was never to be wholly eradicated from their lives. When I started writing my Frank Wolf stories, I felt compelled at some point to explore how Frank and his grandson Joel might solve a crime that emanated from the Holocaust blackness. In Were the Angels Wrong?, a survivor is murdered and another is implicated in the death. Frank and Joel investigate.”
The Holocaust is not the only historical element that sets the background. America in the 1970s also features prominently. Mr. Golubcow mentions details of the American Bicentennial, Vietnam War, draft numbers, protests, and hippies and peaceniks. When the location changes to Vineland, New Jersey, for a day, the story of the Vineland chicken farmers adds another interesting historical feature.
Yet another theme that subtly weaves its way throughout the characters is feminism, a new movement at the time. The kibbud av v’eim that Joel shows to his mother and that Malke shows to her father Frank is exemplary, as is the mutual respect shown in the relationship between Joel and his new wife Aliya. While Joel appears to be a modern-day American, he still has a foot in the old world because of his close and special relationships with his mother and Zaida, while his kallah is comfortable in both worlds.
It is true that some knowledge of Yiddish is helpful in unraveling the book’s mystery, but the author does a good job of contextualizing every Yiddish phrase, just as he thoughtfully introduces less-knowledgeable readers to the frum milieu many of the characters inhabit. In fact, the writing is so compelling that when Joel promises his Zaida that he’ll go to bentch gomel after an assassination attempt, the reader wants to jump in with “Amein!”
Mr. Golubcow’s writing is not only captivating, but displays a talent for description, whether of personalities or inanimate objects, that draws the reader in to feel like a first-hand witness to the actions and circumstances. Mr. Golubcow writes in technicolor. This hard-to-put-down book testifies to a writer who engages and entertains with skill, while remaining firmly rooted in a tznius sensibility and a Torah-true foundation.
The book title and theme of the angels permeate with the protagonists continually trying to raise their medraiga through continual self-reflection. For example, after a successful intervention, Frank Wolf is careful to check his midos to assure he doesn’t become guilty of self-assuredness or bravado. After reflection on the much-publicized murder trial, his participation in the successes and failures, Frank Wolf tells his grandson Joel, “As tired as we may be, as beaten down as we may be, it is our duty to strive every day to prove the angels wrong.” Yes, humanity has the ability to right the wrongs and fight for justice, but for us, the Chosen Ones, it is a requirement. And that is the answer to the title’s question of Were the Angels Wrong?
This fine book is published by Wildside Press (wildsidepress.com) and may be purchased through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other on-line book sellers.