In the Media: Book Review of “Restitution” by Kathy Kacer

I recently received a Second Story Press review copy of Restitution: A family’s fight for their heritage lost in the Holocaust by Kathy Kacer. What interested me the most about this book, upon first hearing about it, is that it is a true story of the Holocaust from the perspective of a Jewish Czechoslovakian family: they escaped from Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Canada, and then spent decades fighting to reclaim four magnificent pieces of artwork that they had once owned. It follows the story up until the present day and involves art smugglers and diplomats as collaborators to get the art across the border without the government noticing.

The story is told from a different perspective than most other tales of the Holocaust, and it was very educational to see the war through the eyes of a Czechoslovakian teenager as his mother sends money to a bank in Paris and forges a Catholic wedding certificate and baptisms. Pictures of each of these documents, as well as fake passports, letters of correspondence, and the artwork that the family works so hard to reclaim are scattered throughout the book as a constant reminder that the story truly took place.

There was one problem that I had with this book: Kacer has written it with the seeming intention of telling a couple of stories (that of young Karl and his escape from Czechoslovakia, as well as the story of the art smuggler), in addition to giving a very accurate description of historical events. That in itself is a wonderful endeavor, but it is also very difficult to succeed in doing. I felt that throughout much of the book, she successfully tells the story and intertwines it with historical details, but that there were other points when it seemed to jump around too much. Just as you become invested in the characters, suddenly it reads like a history book (albeit a very compelling history book). This habit unfortunately places some distance between the reader and the characters.

That being said, I would certainly recommend this book to others (and in fact I had already raved about it to a couple of people before I had even finished the book). It is difficult to put down and Kacer is an excellent writer. If you’re in the least bit interested in history, art, legacy, and the struggle to maintain the self within times of political strife, you will be able to take much away from reading Restitution.

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge and was not compensated in any other way; the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.