The Heavens Are Empty

A magical place. A lost history: Trochenbrod, the setting for EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, is rediscovered for a new generation. Trochenbrod was the only freestanding, fully realized Jewish town in history. It began with a few Jewish settlers searching for freedom from the Russian czars' oppressive policies, which included the forced conscription of one son from each Jewish family household throughout Russia. This scene of ethnic harmony was soon shattered, as Trochenborad vanished in 1941-her residents slaughtered, her homes, buildings, and factories razed to the ground. Yet even the Nazis could not destroy the spirit of Trochenbord, which has lived on in stories and legend about a little piece of heaven, hidden deep in the forest. "The definitive history of this definitive place. if this book feels more fantastical than my novel, or any novel you've ever read, it is because of Trochenbrod's ingenuity, the Holocaust's ferocity, and Bendavid-Val's heroic research and pitch-perfect story-telling." -Jonathan Safran Foer