Tara Lynn Masih

Happy Publication Day! (September 13, 2022)

4.5⭐️

How We Disappear by Tara Lynn Masih is a collection of twelve short stories and one novella with a common theme of disappearance. Often those who disappear do so of their own accord, some are taken from their dear ones and some choose to reinvent themselves shedding their old lives. The concept of disappearance takes on many forms in these stories which are diverse in content, context, setting and characters.

While we have a famous author whose eleven
day disappearance made headlines (“Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments”) we also have a missing child who is found thanks to the skillful observation skills of a woman who specializes in identifying perpetrators from camera footage, a “professional recognizer” in the police department ("What You Can't See in Pictures”). A loner finds companionship in a ghost town tourist attraction in the Depression era (“Fleeing Gravity”).In “Delight", a Puerto Rican shopkeeper find love and a sense of worth with a tourist in her beach town. In “Bird Man”, a daughter travels to Europe to visit the grave of her father who died in WWII. “How Do You Thank a River” follows a freed Black man’s thoughts as he crosses the Red River. “If You Had Stopped” revolves around a woman selling fish on the side of the highway, hoping that a customer would stop and purchase her wares before they disappear down the road. A deceased mother finds a unique medium to communicate with her grieving daughter. (“Billy Said This Really Happened to Lucy”). Women find their way into a new life in a new town in an attempt to start over (“Salt”, “In a Sulfate Mist”, “Those Who Have Gone”). In the Siberian Taiga, a hunter seeks shelter in an abandoned cabin only to discover a series of notes written by the previous owner (“Notes to The World”). The final novella, “An Aura Surrounds That Night”, revolves around a young girl whose life changes irrevocably after the disappearance of her younger sister at the local fair.

As in most short story collections, some of the stories were more appealing than the others. But as a collection, Tara Lynn Masih’s How We Disappear is impressive. My favorite stories were “Delight”, “Agatha: A Life in Unauthorized Fragments”, "Notes to The World” and “Bird Man” though I did enjoy the rest of them as well. Tara Lynn Masih’s prose is beautiful. Masterfully crafted and immersive, these stories are about more than disappearance- they are about life, love, loss and hope. I loved the author’s novel, My Real Name is Hanna and was eager to read more of her work and I must say that this collection does not disappoint!

Many thanks to Press 53 and the author for the digital review of this amazing collection of short stories. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on September 13, 2022.… (mehr)

"My Real Name is Hanna" begins in the present day from the perspective of adult Hanna Slivka (who now goes by Marcelina Rosenberg) as she shares her story with her daughter. She details the experiences she and her family went through between 1941-1945 as they struggled to survive the Holocaust in their hometown of Kwasova in Ukraine during WWII – events that led to her family finally leaving behind their home, their country and even their real names.

The story begins with a brief picture of the changing political landscape as the Nazi occupy Ukraine and the growing intolerance and discriminatory practices against the Jewish population that follows. Fourteen-year-old Hanna’s life changes as she can no longer move about freely, is unable to attend school and her family struggles to make ends meet with the meager rations allotted to them. While most of their acquaintances turn away from them, they do find kindness in a few who are willing to help them including their neighbor, Mrs. Petrovich, with whom Hanna shares a beautiful friendship. As the Germans call for "Judenfrei”, a Jew-free Ukraine, the Slivka family is forced to flee their home and take shelter in a cabin in the forest to avoid being hunted, deported, or killed. When they sense they are no longer safe there, the Slivka family, along with others, make their way to the gypsum caves near the valley further away from their shtetele where they spend over one year in hiding. What follows is a harrowing account of a family forced to fight illness, starvation and the constant threat of discovery and their struggle to stay alive and keep one another safe.

“Abram Slivka (my Papa)
Eva Slivka (my Mama)
Hanna Slivka (14 years old, loves to read)
Leeba Slivka (12 years old, loves to sew)
Symon Slivka (10 years old, a really good boy
who loves his dog)
Ovid (our dog)
Steed (our horse)
We all lived in this house until October 12, 1942. If
you find this,
say these names out loud, please, and bury this paper
in the yard.”

Just as other works that revolve around the Holocaust, this is not an easy read. I did like how the author weaves bits of Ukrainian and Jewish traditions, culture and folklore throughout the narrative. The author’s note at the end of the book states that though this book is a work of fiction, the story was inspired by the true account of the Stermer family (reference Esther Stermer’s memoir "We Fight to Survive") who spent over 500 days in gypsum caves to avoid capture by the Germans. She also mentions that only 5 % of Jews in all of Ukraine survived the Holocaust.

Tara Lynn Masih’s “My Real Name is Hanna” is a story about courage, resilience and survival. This is an important, well-written and well-researched story - the kind that should be read and shared and never forgotten. Though the target audience is YA and thus the tone is somewhat subdued, I feel that this would appeal to adults who are interested in historical fiction set in the WWII era.… (mehr)

Beautifully written and constructed stories.

While they all have “disappearing” in common this short story collection is one of the most diverse I’ve ever read.

I think that short stories are hard to write well. These stories go from barely more than a page to one that is novella length. The fact that each feels complete is a huge accomplishment.

There were a couple of stories that didn’t do it for me though I still found them interesting and appreciated the writing. Most I liked. Some I loved.

My two favorites were emotionally impactful for me and fun to read. They were What You Can’t See in the Picture which was fascinating and my very favorite story, and Agatha, A Life in Unauthorized Fragments which I thought was brilliant and interesting since I am (or was?) an Agatha Christie fan and am interested in her life. I also really liked Bird Man . I liked a lot of the novella An Aura That Surrounds That Night . I thought that its first “chapter” would have made a great short story and I liked the sister relationship. As with some of the stories I struggled with “enjoying” the (not graphic) farmed animal/animals/farm life parts. I think I was extra sensitive because I read this book over the Christmas/Hanukkah season.

I want to reread this collection when I’m hopefully feeling “less disappeared” myself. I think I’d have enjoyed the book even more than I did had I been in a different mood.

This book would be great for a book club or buddy read. I might recommend this book for my real world book club. The stories & novella would be satisfying to discuss with other readers.… (mehr)