Stroyar,
J. N. The Children’s War. Pocket Books. June 2001. c.1168
p. ISBN 0-7434-0739-3. $29.95. Fiction.
Stroyar’s debut, a “what-if” depiction of Europe after the
Third Reich has won World War II, focuses primarily on Peter Halifax (as he is
known in one of his many identities), a man arrested for having bad papers. He
is subsequently imprisoned, tortured, and condemned to death, then reeducated
and thrust into a life of abject slavery as part of a Nazi experiment. After
years of degrading brutality at the hands of various masters, Peter escapes to
the Underground, only to find himself under suspicion as a collaborator. Many
heart-rending moments follow in the battle against Nazi oppression. Though the
pace of the last third occasionally slows and there may be comparisons to Robert
Harris’s Fatherland and Len Deighton’s SS-GB, this is much more than
a pat suspense novel or mystery; rather, it is an immensely assured and beautifully
written work, remarkable for its nuanced characters, its insights into the subtleties
of human relationships under stress, and its devastating portrayal of the horror
of slavery and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming
cruelty. Highly recommended for all public libraries.