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| Esty G. Hayim |
Second Hand Lives |
| Novel |
Tel Aviv, Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1999. 263 pp.
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What does a daughter think when she finds out her father has had a second life which he has hidden from his family for years? Daphna, the daughter, in her twenties, does not blame her father, and perhaps even identifies with him, for she also leads a second life of which her husband has no knowledge. Esty Hayim's rich novel is about more than the father-daughter relationship and their separate lives. This is a novel about both generations in Israeli society: the parent generation, immigrant Holocaust survivors who established the State of Israel and built their homes there, and the generation of their children, who seek their fortunes in distant lands and live as immigrants in foreign countries. Daphna lives in the United States with her husband Paul and dreams of a career in modern dance. After three years of marriage she meets Thomas, a married man, and the two have an affair. One day Daphna's brother calls from Israel. Their father has disappeared, and Daphna leaves for Israel immediately and begins searching for him. But there is no trace of her missing father. Instead Daphna finds his memoirs, which she begins reading, and her father's entire life opens up before her -- a life she knew almost nothing about. The chapters of the memoirs and the story of the past are intertwined with the present, connecting and weaving intriguing tensions between the two story lines. Latzie Lieman was a high school student when the Germans invaded Hungary. He, along with thousands of other refugees, spent time in a transit camp when the war ended. It was there he met and fell in love with the beautiful and vivacious Rosie. On the way to Israel they lost each other. Latzie arrived in Israel with his parents, married a young girl who was also a Holocaust survivor and they had two children. Nineteen years later Latzie meets Rosie by chance and they renew their love. The affair ends only when Rosie discovers that she has cancer. Rosie dies, followed a few years later by Latzie's wife, who had suffered from depression for years. Nothing ties him to his home. Daphna wonders if he has departed on a trip around the world. Is he also running from Israel to distant lands?
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