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El gueto en el que han sido confinados los judíos va a ser liquidado por los nazis y sus habitantes deportados a los campos de concentración. Conocedora del destino que les espera, la madre de Hugo, un niño de once años, sólo piensa en cómo salvar a su hijo... .

Finalmente encuentra a Mariana, una joven que trabaja en un burdel, quien acepta ocultarlo en la recámara de su habitación.Mariana es una chica infeliz que noche tras noche recibe en su habitación a soldados y oficiales nazis y odia lo que ha hecho con su vida forzada por las circunstancias. Sentado en la oscuridad de su escondrijo, Hugo escucha los ruidos y las conversaciones y va tomando conciencia de las masacres que se perpetúan y de la sexualidad que despierta.

There should be something between 3 and 4 stars...There was much I liked about this book; a simple, straightforward description of how people adapt to dreadful circumstances. My only criticism was that sometimes the boy's dreams seemed set up to comment on what he was going through, but they hardly seemed like something he would be imagining. A minor problem in a powerfully grim story of the Holocaust...may we never grow used to these tales. ( )

This Israeli novel set in WW2 Ukraine is the story of young Hugo, whose mother leaves him with her childhood friend as the Nazis round up the Jew in the ghetto. The friend, now a prostitute, protects Hugo as she plies her occupation with the German soldiers. Their relationship is well developed and unusual. As the war ends, they flee the brothel, but are still not safe since Mariana is viewed as a collaborator. Even though I was gripped by the story and the characters, the novel felt a bit plodding. Perhaps it was the translation. ( )

Blooms of Darkness, by Aharon Appelfeld is a compelling and haunting novel that takes place during the Holocaust. The protagonist is an eleven-year old Jewish boy named Hugo. The ghetto he and his family live in is being evacuated by transports, on a a daily basis. His father has been sent away.

Blooms of Darkness is more than a dark story line, and it is haunting in its intensity due to the masterful writing of Appelfeld. It is a stark coming of age story, and one of sexual awakening.

Appelfeld writes with insight within the pages of the novel. He is concise and masterful in depicting Hugo’s thoughts and dreams. ( )