Started: March 7th
Finished: March 15th
TSM Rating: 5/5

When I posted this as book twelve I said that I loved how full and realistic Anita Diamant’s characters are. In each of her novels, the stories focus on the strong connections women make when facing change and adversity. Day After Night was no different and the loyalty that her four main characters — Zorah, Tedi, Leonie, and Shayndel.

Based on a true story, Diamant shares the story of these women who survived one of the most horrific periods of human history. Each woman has their own journey of survival, but it led them all to the same place: the British refugee internment camp, Atlit.

All four women come from different countries and different socio-economic backgrounds. Their binding tie is trauma and survival. While at Atlit they are uncertain of how long they will be there or where they will go once they are permitted to leave. Despite the darkness, trauma, and uncertainty they find other. They advocate for each other, provide emotional support, and bring each other back for the land of the walking dead.

Through their connection, they find that they can find life after living in death. Interestingly, they don’t share the full details of their experiences with each other. They don’t have to in order to understand each other and matter to each other. And isn’t that what friendship is? Finding another soul who you mesh with in spite of — or because of in some cases — where you’ve been and what you’ve been through.

I found myself in tears at the end of this book. It’s not totally clear if the connection lasts beyond their time together, but it is clear that their time together made a lasting impact.

Was this the best of Anita Diamant’s work? No. For me, that was The Red Tent — if you haven’t read it, go get it now, but Day After Night is another look at a period in history that we gloss over: the “after” of the Holocaust. We talk about those who died but not so much about those who survived. This was a beautiful snapshot of that.