Capturing the Sephardic Jewish Experience During WWII - an Editorial Review of "Vidal"

Book Blurb:

Part Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, and Art Spiegelman's Maus, Danila Botha's powerful debut graphic novel, follows young Vidal who grows up in Tiberias (Ottoman Empire and then British Mandate Palestine) and moves to Paris to pursue his art and freedom and gets trapped there during World War II. Botha traces the steps of Vidal's life through Chagallian vignettes, from his Sephardic upbringing in Tiberias to studies in the Technion in Haifa, his artistic life in Paris, his work with the underground resistance, and his ultimate arrest and time in Auschwitz. Poignantly capturing the Sephardic Jewish experience, and like Vidal and his family, the author's family were fifth-generation Moroccan Jews who grew up speaking both Hebrew and Arabic and coexisting with their neighbours and friends. A rich artistic and cultural experience, Vidal brings to light the untold stories of family, hope, freedom, and what their pursuit can cost. Vidal reminds us all that it's possible for things to be different.

Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/K1mjmN

Author Bio:

Danila Botha was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Toronto.

She is the author of acclaimed short story collections For All the Men (and Some of the Women) I've Known and Got No Secrets. Her debut novel, Too Much on the Inside, was recently shortlisted for the 2016 Relit Award. It also won a Book Excellence Award for Contemporary Novel. She is currently working on a new novel, and on a new collection of short stories. She will be teaching at the Humber School for Writers in Spring 2017.

Editorial Review:

Title: Vidal

Author: Danila Botha

Rating: 4.5

"Vidal" by award-winning Author Danila Botha, her debut graphic novel about love, art, survival and memory, follows Vidal Ben Soussan a Sephardic Jewish man from Tiberias, who almost lost everything but then survived to tell the story. In Paris, Vidal married Sylvie, a Frenchwoman who taught at a Jewish school. Because of his marriage, he was allowed to keep his French citizenship, a privilege that set him apart from the sixteen thousand other immigrants who were not so fortunate. But the protection did not last. The Law on the Status of the Jews soon followed, stripping tens of thousands of Jews of their businesses, their apartments, their jobs, and their dignity. Vidal and Sylvie watched their world shrink around them, unsure how long their own safety would hold. This is a tribute to a father, a husband, an artist and a man who refused to be defined by the horrors he endured.

"Our father hated the term survivor. He defined himself as so much more than those horrible years. But before he died, he gifted us with his journals and sketches from those years... We knew we wanted to publish them, and finally, towards the end of his life, he consented."

The reader is primed for a deeply personal story, one that refuses to reduce Vidal to his trauma, instead, celebrating his vibrant though complicated humanity. The reader understands that the novel uses his own art to tell the story, a story that is specific yet universal, and one that is an act of love and preservation.

"I came out blue and silent, struggling to breathe and they called me Vidal, which means alive. I think they were hoping for the best."

The reader learns that Vidal, right from his first breath, was a survivor. His name was a prophecy, a prayer, a hope, and a declaration that became a shield against life's unforgiving odds and challenges. The reader is glad that his parents chose hope over fear, a choice that leaves them marveling at the power of a name, as well as the strength of a family's love and faith in each other's well-being.

"All we had for lunch and dinner was thin, watery soup. It smelled sour but I found myself eating it anyway. Someone had given me a bowl and a spoon and told me to guard them with my life."

In this excerpt, Vidal is describing the meager rations in Auschwitz. It is a moment where dignity is stripped away and one has to hold onto anything that will keep them alive. The reader cannot help but compare the brutal conditions of Auschwitz with the warmth and abundance of Vidal's childhood in Tiberias. They don't just grow curious but also desperate to see how he survives. They root for him. They need him to survive.

This book is magical because it turns a Holocaust story, one of the most horrifying to ever happen, into a celebration of a man through a clever fusion of words and art. The art allows the reader to see the world through his eyes, in what emerges as a priceless family gift to the world. The story honors those who fought back, including Muslims like Si Kaddour Benghabrit who used the mosque as a safe haven, hiding a number of people, including Jews. While the protagonist is described as an artist and a father, the author doesn't sanitize him or show him as a perfect victim. He is also a charmer and a flirt, but deeply loved, which is precisely why his survival matters so much. His mindset challenges the reader's perception of victimhood and survival, the latter, concerning being broken and still choosing to be tough.

"Vidal" by Danila Botha will be enjoyed by those who enjoy deeply human stories and art that tells a powerful story. Graphic novel fans will most especially appreciate how it tells a story that words alone cannot capture.

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