Between Sky & Sea

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Description

A group of Jewish refugees are thrown together on board a dilapidated freighter charting a course for Australia. Fleeing terrible scenes of destruction in Europe, they are bound by a deep sense of loss and the uncertainty of their fate. As the ship lists, inner conflicts burst to the surface and romance, revenge, guilt and desperation fill the craft. There's poignancy, drama and an abiding strength of humanity as the passengers' lives play out in this unbearable hinterland between sky and sea.

Reviews

'This novel, resurrected from its foreign country of the past, might stand as an epitaph for the 353 men, women and children drowned in 2001 when the SIEV X sank while trying to reach Australia. At the very least, Between Sky & Sea should be required reading for refugee policymakers today.' Canberra Times 'Beautifully written with extraordinary insight into the frailties of humanity, Bergner's tale is as much a version of the past as it is a vision of our present...We can only hope that publishers such as Text continue to salvage the treasury of migrant literature that is no longer in print.' Australian 'Bergner's astute observation of life shows in his sharp psychological dissection of this human cargo and his unflinching assessment of people's flaws...Bergner writes with such compassion that a reader becomes infected by his characters' yearnings.' Herald Sun 'There's poignancy, drama and an abiding strength of humanity in this story.' Australian Jewish News 'This beautifully written story will resonate with readers with its universal theme of emigration and its particular topicality today. Perhaps this book should be required reading for refugee policymakers' Toowoomba Chronicle

Author Bio

Herz Bergner was born in Poland in 1907 and migrated to Australia with his wife in 1938. His first book, The New House, published in 1941, was a collection of short stories about immigrants adapting to life in a new land. Between Sky and Sea was translated from Yiddish into English by Australian Jewish novelist Judah Waten, and published in 1946 to great acclaim. Herz Bergner died in 1970.