This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke

Abstract

Reviewed by: This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Locke, Katherine This Rebel Heart. Knopf, 2022 [448p] Library ed. ISBN 9780593381250 $21.99 Trade ed. ISBN 9780593381243 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593381267 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 As a Jew, Csilla has never felt entirely safe in communist-held Hungary; she and her family narrowly escaped death in the ghetto and labor camps, but her parents were later killed as traitors to the state. Two weeks before she and her aunt plan to flee the country in 1956, Csilla realizes she is being tracked by the ÁVH, Hungary’s secret police, an unfortunate development further complicated by her decision to help Tamás, a university student looking to find out what happened to his missing lover. Meanwhile, Azriel, an angel of death, has arrived in Budapest, knowing only that his presence foretells mass casualties and that, somehow, Csilla is connected to whatever calamity is about to fall upon the city. As rumors of rebellion turn to calls for revolution and augur the violence, Csilla, Tamás, and Azriel must guide the resistance with what they hope will be minimal bloodshed. The fact that they and the rebellion fail is not included in the story, an authorial choice that underscores the book’s ultimate theme: victory is never assured when challenging the status quo, regardless of how noble the challengers’ motivations and goals are. Magical realism blends with historical fiction to give Csilla’s experience a sense of urgency, situating it both within known history and a more mystical world. Secret police stalk the literally colorless streets, and the Danube River whispers to Csilla, increasingly louder as university students lead marches with policy demands and events spiral out of control. Like Sepetys’ The Fountains of Silence (BCCB 10/19), this will certainly send readers to research a lesser-known resistance movement and realize that while it’s easy to judge history in hindsight, it’s far more difficult, but necessary, to try to make it. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois