First published 1987
Yakov Bok abandons his village and heads to Kiev in 1911, hoping to escape his failed marriage and find better opportunities. To blend in, he conceals his Jewish identity and takes work as a handyman for a member of the Black Hundreds Society, a violently anti-Semitic organization. When a young Russian boy turns up murdered in a cave, his body drained of blood, the Black Hundreds seize the chance to accuse Jews of ritual killing. They arrest Bok and demand he confess to the crime. Locked in prison, Bok faces relentless pressure to admit guilt for a murder he never committed. His refusal to confess becomes an act of defiance against the hatred surrounding him. The novel explores how an ordinary man maintains his dignity when trapped by forces beyond his control.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, crime, antisemitism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, wrongly-accused
Setting: Kiev, Russia
Period: 1911
Content warnings: racism