The Binding

When Dave Razkowski falls from the rock-face he's climbing, he's forced to deal with not only his serious physical injuries, but with the psychological injuries and powerful impact the Holocaust has had on survivors' children. Just as young Isaac of the Bible is unwittingly bound as an intended sacrifice to his father Abraham's past experiences and his spiritual beliefs, so are Dave, Wolff Blumen and Al Logan unwittingly and unwillingly bound to each other, because of their parents' experiences in the Nazi concentration and extermination camps. Struggle as they might against these invisible tethers, the three men cannot escape the dreadful historical events that still haunt and terrorize their parents. Dave's fall from the rock-face plunges him unwillingly into the lives of Wolff- a former actor who has become an Orthodox Jew - and Al- an investigative reporter who, like Dave, goes to desperate measures to keep his own Jewish heritage a secret. When the lives of these three men unexpectedly intersect, they are forced to deal with buried pain, family secrets, lies, betrayal, and sacrifice. Can these men heal the wounds that the Holocaust inflicted upon them because they are survivors' children? Can they stop hiding from their own heritage, unusual childhoods, and their parents' horrific past? Can these three men believe - and trust - in a God that seems to have abandoned their parents during the Holocaust? Highly gripping, faced-paced, and intense, Barrie's The Binding weaves the lives of these three men together like an exquisite tapestry, its invisible yet unbreakable threads like cords that bind Holocaust survivors to each other and to their children; cords that bind survivors' children to the offspring of other survivors, and, ultimately, to us. Their history becomes ours as Barrie's compelling story and fine writing lead to a surprising climax that will keep readers bound to the characters long after they've finished the book.