When Glass Breaks

'When Glass Breaks' is the heart-rending story of Ben Lindenheim, who became separated from his older brother during the Kindertransport, and who lived a life of heroism, trauma, adventure, love, denial, illness, family, failure and lies, but always in the hope of one day being reunited with his brother.

Only at the end, does the reader discover the novel is narrated by Helen Painter, as she seeks to piece together fragments of her father's past, most of which he tried to conceal from his family. She knew only that he had a war pension due to a shrapnel injury – he had a scar; that he fought with the Royal Norfolk regiment – or so he said; that he was an army boxing champion – impossible to check out; that he spent a couple of years in South Africa – which may have been true as there were two African-language books on the bookshelves at home; that he was educated at Winchester – but he knew no Latin or Greek; that his family were killed in the Blitz, with one brother dying in North Africa, and which may have included a baby son – something his post-stroke lability let slip; and that he was Jewish – which she knew from her own DNA test, taken long after he died. Nothing much checked out and the family history searches revealed no mention of the surname before his marriage certificate. So, she filled in the blanks, and gave him a past, one which would honour the father with whom she had shared a difficult relationship, largely, she came to acknowledge, due to the psychological scars he bore.

Anyone who has read 'En Passant' will have become acquainted with Saul Lindenheim, a minor character who has lived for many years with the guilt of being separated from his brother Ben during the Kindertransport and the hope of one day being reunited. 'When Glass Breaks' is the story of Ben's life.