Book Review: We Are Only Ghosts by Jeffrey L. Richards

Ghosts are entities that have lost their identities. They are suspended in a realm that lies between existing and not existing, between the living and the dead. 'We Are Only Ghosts' is a novel by Jeffrey L. Richards that explores the theme of the loss of identity and the struggles to reclaim it. An intense psychological thriller written in the background of the Holocaust, the novel also deals with the plight of gays during the Second World War and the years after that. I received a review copy of the book from the publisher, Kensington Books, through Netgalley in exchange for honest feedback. 

It's 1968. Charles, the headwaiter at an upscale cafe in New York, finds a man from his past frequenting the place. It's Berthold, an SS officer who escaped prosecution and fled to the US by assuming the identity of Lynch, a Jewish businessman. He is responsible for the deaths of Charles' mother and sisters too, in the camps of Auschwitz. But he realises that his feelings for Berthold—the remnants of a complex relationship—haven't died down. As a Czech Jew who is also gay, Karel had all odds stacked against him. On his side, he had only his instinct to survive, which made him change his name to Charles and his identity to German and flee to the US. How would he tackle this challenge from the past? 

The novel is narrated in a nonlinear manner. There are two strands of the narrative that occur in two different timelines. The first one begins when Charles identifies Berthold in 1968 and proceeds to tell us the aftermath of their encounter. The second, interestingly, moves backwards. It begins in 1944, when Berthold hands over to Charles the forged documents that pronounce him a German. This narrative then moves back in time to take us back to when he was Karel, a free Czech Jew kid. It reminded me of the narrating technique used by Nolan in his movie 'Memento' and managed to provide interesting and striking perspectives on the transformations in Charles and his relationship with Berthold. 

The two pillars of this novel are the characters Charles and Berthold. One is a Jew who switches his identity to become a German, and the other is a Nazi who swaps his to become a Jew. Both of them are ghosts, entities who erased their pasts and assumed the roles of their enemies for survival. It is the unlikely relationship between these two that is the backbone of the book. The author is successful in bringing out the contrasts between these two characters and highlighting their similarities. The dilemma of Charles and the resolution that the story arrives at is what ultimately springs the reader's favour towards him, not his being a Jew in a Holocaust story. 

'We Are Only Ghosts' by Jeffrey L. Richards is a striking tale set during the Holocaust that explores the role of identities, power, and survival instincts in the human story. It asks us to think of the extent to which one could go to preserve themselves. It also tries to determine the cost of retrieving the lost identity.