Kingdom of Twilight by Steven Uhly Review

Kingdom of Twilight 

by Steven Uhly

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*I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

One night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An S.S. officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles – one for every year of the dead man’s life. First hidden by a German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her new-born baby. So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. KINGDOM OF TWILIGHT follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former S.S. officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from Displaced Persons camps to Lübeck, Berlin, Tel Aviv and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it. Hypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly’s epic novel is a finely nuanced and yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity and redemption.

No stranger to WWII historical fiction novels, Kingdom of Twilight was appealing to me from the start. An epic, expansive novel spanning decades and focusing on many different lives, Kingdom of Twilight stands out among the rest of its fellow WWII historical fiction novels for more than just its scope. 

A unique aspect of this novel was its focus on the post-war experiences of its characters. Familiar as I am with this specific era of historical fiction novels, I usually find that novels end at a tragedy, perhaps a happy reunion, or at the end of the war itself. Never, however, have I read a novel that goes so much further into the aftereffects of the war and the experiences of the people still reeling and displaced by the war. Kingdom of Twilight doesn’t shy away from this tumultuous time, diving deep into the struggles of displaced people and their fight to stay alive despite the worst of the war being over. Still searching for somewhere to live, still starving, and still suffering terribly, Uhly gave fictional voice to a group of people within a period of time not often explored within novels. With its many points of view, this novel gave an incredible look at the different sides of life in post-WWII Europe for Jews, Germans, and even Nazis. It was quite an eye-opening read.

The characters of Kingdom of Twilight were very well written. Despite the expansive scope of this novel, readers get to know each of the characters quite well, spending significant amounts of time within the characters’ thoughts. Characters were emotional, understandable and real, forming a connection with me as a reader that I couldn’t turn away from. 

Kingdom of Twilight was a generally well-written novel, with emotional, gripping narration and prose that really put readers in the mind of the characters as well as descriptions that painted clear, impactful images. The writing wasn’t without its low points, though. At times, the narration delved perhaps too far into the characters’ minds, drifting off into long paragraphs of somewhat rambling, repetitive thoughts. While I could recognize the impact Uhly was aiming for during these passages and the effectiveness of the writing, they weren’t something I necessarily enjoyed. The writing also often dipped into confusing territory that was difficult to follow. There were some inconsistencies within the progression of the timelines that were confusing, as well as the timelines mixing together within the narration without clear distinction, making me question whether I had misread something along the way or missed some important piece of information and was now a bit lost. While this confusion was cleared away by the end of the book, the resolution of the confusion didn’t quite justify the fact that it wasn’t the easiest plot to keep track of and felt, at times, needlessly complicated. For example, there were times when I doubted my understanding of what I’d read because specific events were referenced that hadn’t been explained thus far, and left me feeling quite lost and unsure of what was meant by its reference in the moment. With many instances of dialogue included in the regular narration without quotes, grammar mistakes, sentences that made little sense, and innumerable run-on sentences that touched on way too many points for one sentence, I had to wonder if an issue with the translation played a role.

While I was invested in Kingdom of Twilight from the start, I cannot say that my interest was without interruption. At over 530 pages long and with such a significant amount of time spent deep within the thoughts of characters, I have to say there were times when the story slowed to a drag and my interest waned. I was pleased to find, though, that at just past the halfway point of the novel, something clicked and the moments of disinterest faded from the reading experience and I was able to enjoy most of what I read thoroughly. Kingdom of Twilight had all the hallmarks of a good WWII historical fiction novel that readers expect—it was complex, difficult, touching, emotional, evocative, gripping, devastating. Though it moved slowly at times and was confusing at other times, this novel was an engaging read. 

Kingdom of Twilight was an overall fantastic novel. It stretched generations and told stories of the hardships still felt by Jewish and displaced people after WWII was over and during the formation of Israel, a topic I haven’t seen focused on much within the genre of historical fiction. It was illuminating and heartbreaking, a worthwhile read for any fan of historical fiction.

4/5

Madison