Review: "Walking the Labyrinth" by Lisa Goldstein

I was introduced to Lisa Goldstein a few months ago with the re-release of her National Book Award winner “The Red Magician.” I enjoyed the book immensely, but I’m not certain that I don’t like “Walking the Labyrinth” ($7.99, Open Road Media) even more.

Originally released in 1996, “Walking the Labyrinth” tells the tale of Molly Travers, a temp worker with an on-again, off-again writer boyfriend who mostly ignores her. She lives a fairly normal and dreary life. That is until private detective John Stow shows up on her doorstep and begins asking questions about her Aunt Fentrice, who raised her after her parents died.

The detective’s inquiries lead Molly to question what she knows about her life and sets her on an unlikely path of adventure and mystery and she uncovers the secrets of her family’s sordid history.

Review: "The Red Magician," by Lisa Goldstein

Though it was a National Book Award winner in 1983, the recent reissue of Lisa Goldstein’s “The Red Magician” ($7.99, Open Road Media) was my introduction to the tale.

Kicsi, a young Jewish girl living in Hungary during World War II, dreams of adventure and exotic locales. So she’s naturally taken with a strange, red-haired wanderer calling himself Voros who comes to town and is invited by her father to dine with the family. Voros has traveled the world, and Kicsi longs to hear about his adventures.

Voros gets on the bad side of the controlling local rabbi when he breaks a curse the rabbi has placed on Kicsi’s school because they teach classes in Hebrew and because of Voros’ attempts to warn the people of the town that disaster is coming.

The feud is the talk of the town, but the evil that’s about to descend on Kicsi’s family and friends will make the skirmish between the two magicians seem unimportant.