This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke Published by Random House Children's Books on April 5, 2022
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Historical / Europe, Young Adult Fiction / LGBTQ, Young Adult Fiction / Religious / Jewish
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780593381250A tumultuous tale of the student-led 1956 Hungarian revolution—and an all too timely look at the impact of Communism and the USSR in Eastern Europe—set in a fabulist, colorless post-WWII Budapest.
In the middle of Budapest, there is a river. Csilla knows the river is magic. During WWII, the river kept her family safe when they needed it most--safe from the Holocaust. But that was before the Communists seized power. Before her parents were murdered by the Soviet police. Before Csilla knew things about her father's legacy that she wishes she could forget.
Now Csilla keeps her head down, planning her escape from this country that has never loved her the way she loves it. But her carefully laid plans fall to pieces when her parents are unexpectedly, publicly exonerated. As the protests in other countries spur talk of a larger revolution in Hungary, Csilla must decide if she believes in the promise and magic of her deeply flawed country enough to risk her life to help save it, or if she should let it burn to the ground.
With queer representation, fabulist elements, and a pivotal but little-known historical moment, This Rebel Heart is Katherine Locke's tour de force.
This definitely wasn’t a favorite book of mine in general or for the year. But it was interesting to read right after the United States election.
While I don’t currently live in a post-war world, the whole idea of loving a country that has never loved me the way I love it is certainly something that resonates with me. The story itself was quite interesting and not an historical event that I knew of before reading this book.
The magical realism elements of the story (the river, the Angel of death, the colorless city) felt more like a distraction or detraction from the events that were happening to Csilla and the other characters in the story. I wish there was more backstory on Csilla and her parents, especially with the excerpts at the beginning of each chapters. I really wanted to read more of her father’s journal.
One aspect that I did love was how torn Csilla was about the whole situation. Whether she should stay and fight for Hungary, or should she leave with her aunt to Israel. Again, since reading this after the U.S. elections it has been a difficult time not only as a queer person, but as a person with a heart. There’s part of me that wants to stay and fight and work towards better. The other half is just wanting to leave and light everything on fire. I’ve tried years to get others to understand that they should care about other people, and I am tired! But, in the end, Csilla does stay (although it does turn out horribly with Russia taking over again, and Hungary not having free elections until 1990). It’s could be easy to leave and decide it’s not worth it and much harder to stay. (Side note: for those who are considering leaving or already have plans to leave, this is not an indictment on you or your character. There’s a lot that goes into staying or leaving and whichever works for you and your family is what you should do).
Anyway, this was definitely an interesting book to read post-election, especially about a time period that I haven’t heard of before. I’d definitely recommend to those who read historical fiction, please be aware of trigger warnings: antisemitism, homophobia, death of a parent recounted, police brutality, gun violence, and the Holocaust.
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