Another Me by Eva Wiseman

The story opens in October 1348 with seventeen year old Natan folding the used clothing his father had purchased and placing them into the cart so they can be taken to Drapers' Row to be sold. The drapers then turned the used clothing into luxurious garments for the wealthy. It is almost Shabbos (Sabbath) and Natan's father has not returned with his cart from the drapers, so Natan and his younger brother Shmuli set out to find their father. Traveling down Judenstrasse, the Street of the Jews and across town to Draper's Row they fail to find their father. Eventually they find their father in the lane behind their house, badly beaten, his leg broken.

After arguing with his parents, Natan's father reluctantly agrees to allow him to take the cart but only to Wilhelm's shop in the center of Draper's Row. When they enter Draper's Row, a boy steals some clothing from their cart. When they chase him, Natan meets Elena who is the daughter of Wilhelm the draper who tells them to let the boy go. Almost immediately Hans, who is Wilhelm's journeyman-apprentice appears, asking Elena if she requires any help. When Natan informs Wilhelm of his father's accident, the master draper consoles him and gives Natan a gold coin.

After helping to unload Natan's cart, Elena invites him in for a tankard of ale, against the wishes of their cook, Vera. Back home, Natan finds himself completely smitten with the draper's beautiful blue-eyed Elena. Fortunately for Natan he is sent back to the drapers to purchase some red yard so his mother can finish a beautiful tapestry she is working on. Elena and Natan manage to spend a few moments alone before they are interrupted by Hans. Elena arranges to meet Natan in the lane behind their house at eleven o'clock. Natan returns that night and spends the entire night in Elena's kitchen talking. The two meet several times every week into November.

In November of 1348, Natan decides to meet Elena at the city well. His mother warns him that she has heard about a letter from from the city of Bern which tells of the plague having arrived in the city and that the Jews were accused, arrested and tortured into confessing that they had poisoned the city wells. She tells Natan that Rabbi Weltner's brother has written to warn them that they same thing might happen in Strasbourg. When Natan heads to the well he finds a mob attacking a Jewish moneylender. Natan recognizes Hans who is attempting to stop the attack and tells him to get Wilhelm. When Natan attempts to intervene, he is knocked unconscious.

Natan regains consciousness and learns that he is resting at the home of Elena and her father, after having been carried there. Natan spends several days at their home recovering and then decides to return home but before he leaves he overhears Hans proposing to Elena. She refuses him telling Hans that her heart belongs to another.

One day in February of 1349 Natan receives an urgent message from Elena to meet him at her home. She tells Natan that she has overheard her father talking to the Ammeister, Peter Schwarber. Schwarber told Elena's father that at an assembly in the Alsace region, delegates from the cities of Bern and Zofingen stated that Jews in their cities confessed to poisoning the wells, causing an outbreak of the plague. These delegates managed to convince those from Basel and Freiburg that they should kill all the Jews in their cities. Elena tells Natan that Schwarber refused but she doubts his sincerity because he has ordered the city well covered.

On his way home, Natan secretly discovers three men dumping garbage into the well. When they attempt to throw a cat into the well, it escapes and reveals Natan hiding in the shadows. Kaspar the butcher grabs Natan recognizing him as the boy who tried to save the Jewish moneylender. When Natan threatens to tell the Ammeister the truth about who poisoned the well, Kasper murders Natan so that their deed will remain a secret. But in a surprising twist, Natan may be able to fulfill his intention to save the Jews of Strasbourg from certain death once the poisoned well has been discovered.

Discussion

Another Me is a story set in 14th century Strasbourg, France during the time when the bubonic plague was spreading throughout Europe. The spread of bubonic plague throughout the region led to many pogroms in various cities. This was because Jews were believed to be poisoning the wells used by non-Jews in the city. 

News from Bern and Zofingen that Jews had confessed under torture to poisoning the wells there, led some of the citizens of Strasbourg to suspect the Jewish population of their city too. However, the Jews in Strasbourg were under the protection of the Catholic church and the city which they paid a high fee in return for protection.

Sadly, ignorance about the cause of bubonic plague and the unrelenting efforts of the butcher and tanner's guilds to rid Strasbourg of the Jewish population resulted in the massacre of two thousand Jews on February 14, 1349. This event is recounted near the end of Wiseman's novel.

Wiseman makes use of a belief in Judaism that involves transmigration of the soul. In Another Me, Natan becomes an ibbur which Rabbi Weltner explains as occurring "when a righteous person's soul take up residence in another's body." In Natan's case, his soul has migrated into the body of Hans, hence the title "Another Me". As to why this has happened, Weltner explains to Natan that "It happens when someone's time here on this earth ends before he can fulfill a promise or complete a task important to our people." The rabbi believes that it is Natan's task to warn the Ammeister that the accusations against the Jews of Strasbourg are false.  And so Natan with the help of Elena sets out to try to accomplish this in Hans body. The rabbi warns Natan and Elena about telling her father the truth of what has happened to Hans and Natan but he agrees to accompany Natan to talk to his parents.

Thus through the eyes of Natan/Hans we learn the fate of the Jews of Strasbourg. The horrific massacre is presented in to young readers in unflinching detail. "When we got to the cemetery, we saw that several huge wooden platforms had been built over the graves. Beside them were piles and piles of firewood. Our masters drove us up the platforms like cattle...Finally Kasper lit the wood around the first platform. Schwarber lit the second and third, until the fire spread to all the platforms. Soon, the sound of screams and the stench of roasting flesh filled the air."
 

Wiseman is able to portray the reality for the Jewish citizens of Strasbourg in the 14th century. The Christians of Strasbourg and other cities throughout medieval Europe had placed numerous restrictions on Jewish citizens. They often had to wear identifying badges so that Christians like Elena did not become unknowingly involved in an intimate way with Jews, something that was forbidden. Certain occupations were forbidden to them and they could not own land. Instead most Jews were involved in commerce and banking, often as moneylenders. They were often difficult to deal with but this was likely because they were forced to pay large taxes for protection by the city and in turn passed these large fees onto their clients who then complained about them. Many Jews were threatened to either convert and be baptized or to face expulsion from their cities. 

When the plague broke out in the mid-14th century the Jewish people were blamed. This was due to the many superstitious beliefs that persisted about the Jewish people. It was thought they were poisoning the city wells but this accusation made no sense because they too used the same wells. Fewer Jews contracted the plague likely because of their ritual hand washing upon arising in the morning and before meals, but this only made Christians suspicious. During Natan's meeting with the Ammeister and the councilors, the superstition based on misunderstanding and ignorance is portrayed. "The Jews don't die from the pestilence like the rest of us," Adolf said. "That's true," Felix the barber replied. "It is said that they die at half the rate we do. I have heard they made a pact with the devil to protect themselves." Despite this pervasive superstition Pope Clement VI issued several bulls repudiating the superstitious beliefs of Christians and asserting the humanity and dignity of the Jewish citizens in Europe.

Wiseman accurately portrays the ignorance and superstition of people in the 14th century regarding illness. Medicine in this century was largely based on superstition and very strange ideas. For example when her father takes ill, Elena decides she needs to get the surgeon because "Everybody knew that bloodletting worked miracles." Bloodletting using leeches or cutting remained a choice treatment for almost two thousand years and was practiced into the 18th and 19th centuries.  It was based on the concept that blood and other fluids which together were called "humours" needed to be balanced. Elena tells Natan that the surgeon will "balance Papa's humors and restore his health."  When the surgeon arrives he tells Elena that "Bloodletting will reduce the hotness of his blood."

Readers see how the citizens of Strasbourg dealt with the Black Death. Homes of those sick with the plague had a red cross painted on the door and no one was allowed in or out. During this time there were so many sick that the streets were deserted. Elena finds the parish priest dead in the church. Everyday corpse bearers with their death cart traveled through the streets calling for people to bring out their dead. The dead were so numerous that they were buried in pits outside the city walls and no one was allowed near the pits.

Besides the focus on the pogrom, Another Me has a tender subplot of two star-crossed lovers, the Jew Natan and the Christian Elena. If Natan had lived they would never have been allowed to marry as marriage between Jews and Christians was forbidden. His return as an ibbur is temporary although Elena does not know this at the time. She struggles to come to terms with Natan in Hans body which she finds disgusting. But just as she learns to love him once again Elena must face losing her beloved Natan all once more, when he leaves the body of Hans.

Another Me is a short historical novel about a little remembered pogrom and an era of history dominated by misunderstanding, ignorance and superstition.

For information about the relationship and history of early Christians with the Jews and Judaism readers are directed to The Church and the Jews in the Middle Ages by Thomas Madden.

Book Details:

Another Me by Eva Wiseman
Northern New York: Tundra Books     2016
233 pp.

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko

Chasing Secrets is a historical fiction novel about an outbreak of the bubonic plague which began in the city of San Francisco in March, 1900 and continued for a number of years. This novel is set in the year 1900, at the very beginning of the outbreak.

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth (Lizzie) Kennedy lives in San Francisco with her sixteen-year-old brother, William (Billy) and her father who is a doctor. Lizzie's mother died five years ago from stomach cancer. 

She attends Miss Barstow's School for Young Women which is a finishing school for young girls. The girls learn how to run a household and how to attract and marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately, they do not study science, and math classes stop after the third grade. Lizzie was enrolled in the school on the advice of her Aunt Hortense when she turned eleven. But she hates the dancing, etiquette and entertaining classes and much prefers to accompany her father on his house visits.

Lizzie is driven to and from Miss Barstow's by their Chinese cook, Jing, who also cares for their garden, horses and chickens and their cat. Lizzie has a strong attachment to Jing, who makes a special cake on her birthday. Lizzie's home is next door to her Aunt Hortense and Uncle Karl Sweeting's house which is on Nob Hill. Her aunt and uncle are extremely wealthy as Uncle Karl has made a great deal of money in the sugar business. Unlike her wealthy sister, Lizzie's mother married a doctor who often doesn't charge for his visits if people cannot pay.

The novel opens with Lizzie taking the next three days off from school as she accompanies her father on his house calls, something Aunt Hortense doesn't approve of. Their first call is to attend Mrs Jessen who is in labour but discover that her daughter, Caroline is also in need of medical care as she has broken her arm. Lizzie's father assigns her to set Caroline's arm, while he delivers the baby. However, Lizzie find this is easier said than done because Caroline won't let her near. Lizzie realizes that Caroline is frightened for her mother so she works on allaying her fears. Lizzie eventually sets the arm and helps her father deliver the Jessen baby, a healthy boy. When Mr. Jessen, who is a policeman in San Francisco, returns in the morning, he mentions about the enormous number of dead rats found in the walls of a restaurant in the city. Later when Jing picks up Lizzie and her father from the ferry, he tells them that Chinatown is under quarantine for the plague. Dr. Kennedy tells his daughter that there was an outbreak in Hawaii but no confirmed cases in San Francisco. As a result of the quarantine, Aunt Hortense asks Lizzie's father not to take her on any more calls. He agrees to this much to Lizzie's dismay.

Stuck at home with their maid Maggy Doyle, Lizzie decides to investigate the third floor after hearing strange sounds. On the third floor she discovers a Chinese boy who identifies himself as Jing's son, Noah, living in Jing's room. Noah tells Lizzie that he lives in the house unknown to everyone. Noah is worried because his father has not returned and he believes he has been caught in the quarantine when he went to Chinatown to work as a translator. Lizzie promises not to tell anyone about Noah's presence and to help him find his father. When she brings Noah dinner, Lizzie tells him she will ask her Uncle Karl about getting Jing out of the Chinatown quarantine.

That evening when Lizzie visits her uncle's home, she learns that many doctors do not believe the plague has come to San Francisco. Uncle Karl who owns the evening newspaper, the Call, has refused to publish anything about the plague, unlike his rival, Randolph Hearst. Karl believes that Hearst is publishing the reports of the plague so he can sell more newspapers. Uncle Karl tells Lizzie not to worry about Jing but that he will make some calls in the morning.

The next morning Lizzie tells Noah that her Uncle Karl will try to find out about Jing. Lizzie learns that Noah's mother still lives in China giving them something in common - they both miss their mothers. Noah tells her that he was living with his Uncle Han but came to live with Jing before the quarantine set in because his father was afraid he would starve.

Next Lizzie attempts to enlist Billy to take her to Chinatown. Lizzie notes Billy's black eye but he simply tells her he ran into a door. When Billy refuses to help her, Lizzie harnesses their horse, John Henry, and tries to leave without Aunt Hortense noticing. Of course her aunt does notice, but Billy rescues Lizzy and together the two of them travel to Chinatown. During their drive, Lizzie learns that Billy has been fighting but she promises to keep his secret since their father would never approve. At Chinatown, they find the area roped off and guarded by the police. Even Lizzie dropping Karl Sweeting's name doesn't help. As they drive around the area, Lizzie overhears two police mention about "waiting on the monkey". Desperate to find Jing, she asks for Officer Jessen but he too is unable to help.

When they arrive home, Billy and Lizzie discover that Aunt Hortense is moving into the spare room because their father will not be returning until the following week due to a smallpox outbreak. With Aunt Hortense's eagle eye on everything, Lizzie wonders how she will feed Noah and how she will ever manage to locate Jing and bring him home. Her attempts to find Jing lead Lizzie to uncover the truth about the plague in Chinatown and San Francisco and to reveal many secrets both in her family and the city.

Discussion

Chinatown circa 1900

Chasing Secrets is a well-written historical novel about life in early 1900's San Francisco. Choldenko fills her story with interesting details about what life was like for a young girl from a reasonably well-off white family during this era. Well-to-do young girls like Lizzie lived in large, clean homes with servants and good food, had access to what medical treatment existed at that time. They attended dances such as the cotillion (a kind of debutante social event). Although young girls received some schooling, their teen years were spent preparing to run a household. 

Noah's life would have been very different from Lizzie's, partly because he was a boy but also because he was Chinese. He would have had just as much difficulty attending school as she would. At the turn of the 20th century, the Chinese were restricted in where they could live in cities including San Francisco, and the general population were not accepting of the Chinese, even those Chinese born in America.

In Lizzie Kennedy, Choldenko has crafted a courageous, determined heroine, intent upon forging her own destiny. She is determined to find her family's beloved missing Chinese servant. Without betraying Noah's secret, Lizzie continues to search for his father, Jing, even if it means breaking the social conventions of the time. She harnesses the family's horse and buggy, preparing to drive herself to Chinatown until Billy intervenes to help her. When that fails Lizzie even attempts to pass herself off as a nurse to gain access to Chinatown. At the cotillion, Lizzie sneaks into the bar in an effort to learn more about what it happening in Chinatown. Later on she even dresses as a boy and attempts to ride her horse into Chinatown at night to warn Jing and Noah that people are intent upon setting the area on fire.

One of the themes in Chasing Secrets is that of friendship. Through Noah, Lizzie learns the meaning of friendship. At Miss Barstow's, Lizzie has not made many friends. "Now I'm thirteen, and my friends are the cook, the maid, our horse, and my father." When she meets Noah, she confesses to him that she doesn't have any friends because she's different and she seems to say the wrong thing. Noah advises Lizzie to pick out one girl she likes best and to start with her. When Lizzie declares that they are friends now, Noah states that outside her home, they cannot be friends. However, Lizzie tells him "We decide if we're going to be friends. Not them." Noah helps Lizzie learn to dance and he crafts her a "button-head lion", "so you'll remember to be brave...With everyone. Be your best true self. That's what Baba says." After the quarantine is lifted, Lizzie worries about whether she will ever see Noah again. She considers him her best friend. Eventually Lizzie does make friends at Miss Barstow's by following what Noah told her. She becomes friends with Gemma Trotter and her twin brother, Gus, who it turns out has a crush on Lizzie.

Another prominent theme is the Kennedy children's struggle to forge their own path in life. Lizzie's father wanted his son Billy to become a doctor. Even though Billy shows an aptitude for medicine as evidenced by his ability to stitch his shoulder himself, he wants to be a fighter. It is something he likes to do but his father is horrified. Billy tells his father, "I don't want people to take advantage of me. I need to be able to back up what I say. Otherwise it's just talk." Billy believes his father does not have much respect in the community because he doesn't stand up for himself when people don't pay him for his services. When Dr. Kennedy tells him he doesn't want his son fighting for a living, Billy states, "I'm not going to live my life as 'your son.' I'm going to live it my way. Make my own decisions. Think for myself." One of those decisions is to not get vaccinated against the plague.It is a decision that has profound repercussions for the Kennedy family.

In the same way, Lizzie finds herself at odds with the life her Aunt Hortense wants her to have. She had enrolled Lizzie in the finishing school with the idea that she will eventually marry and manage a household. Aunt Hortense doesn't like Lizzie accompanying her father on his medical trips. But with the death of Billy things change. Eventually even Aunt Hortense comes to realize that young people want to live as they choose. When Lizzie tells her that she wants to go to college, she is shocked when her aunt agrees. " 'I wanted a different life for you. Your father wanted a different life for Billy. But that didn't work did it? You'll have to' --she can hardly get the words out over the welling in her throat--'live your life your way.' "

The theme of "chasing secrets" is woven throughout the novel. Almost every character is keeping secrets or as Billy states, "Everybody has secrets...even Orange Tom."   Lizzie is keeping Noah's presence in her house a secret as well as her friendship with him which would not be considered appropriate for a girl her age or social status. Billy is keeping his fighting a secret because he knows his father disapproves. Uncle Karl and his friend Peter are keeping secret the efforts of Dr. Kinyoun (who has injected the plague pathogen into a monkey, a rat and two guinea pigs) to prove the presence of bubonic plague in the city. Dr. Roumalade is keeping secret his triaging of patients based on their social status and his unethical use of a vaccine known to kill those already exposed to the bubonic plague. Jing's secret revolves around the existence of Noah and his work in Chinatown, while the Chinese in Chinatown and the city officials are keeping secret the deaths from the plague by hiding the bodies in barrels and sneaking them out of Chinatown.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy Chasing Secrets. Choldenko captures the atmosphere of San Francisco at the turn of the last century with strong, well developed characters and an exciting mystery.

Choldenko provides her readers with a wonderfully informative Author's Note at the back that provides information on the city of San Francisco, Chinatown, medicine in 1900, the plague and the plague epidemic of 1900 in San Francisco. There is also a map at the front of the novel so readers can understand the setting of the novel.

These websites may provide valuable information on the bubonic plague in San Francisco:

A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Bubonic Plague Hit San Francisco:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm00bu.html

Bubonic Plague in Chinatown from the Library of Congress:
https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-san-francisco-plague

Book Details:

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko
New York: Wendy Lamb Books     2015
278 pp.