I, Dreyfus - Softcover

Rubens, Bernice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349111391 ISBN 13: 9780349111391

Publisher: Abacus, 2000

Synopsis

Almost a century after J'Accuse, another Dreyfus is imprisoned, another victim of hatred and conspiracy, another Jew. Sir Alfred Dreyfus, eminent, skilled and beloved headmaster of one of the greatest schools in England, is found guilty of the calculated murder of a child.

When Sam Temple, literary agent and fellow Jew, visits Dreyfus in his prison cell, he finds a man sunk beyond despair: estranged from his loving family, publicly reviled, condemned to the company of murderers. As Dreyfus begins, reluctantly, on the appalling narrative of his betrayal he must confront, too, his own guilt at a lifetime's denial of his race and his faith. All the poignancy of his lost heritage is brought sharply into focus as painfully, urgently he draws near to the truth.

In the second Alfred Dreyfus Bernice Rubens has created a character of profound and moving humanity; in placing him at the end of our century, she makes his story a tragedy which resonates with its particular and terrible freight of history, bound in with the fate of six million others.

About this title

Review

Bernice Rubens is one of England's elder stateswomen of literature, and I,Dreyfus upholds her reputation for producing stately and polished fiction with a serious moral intent. For Rubens, the anti-semitism which rocked France at the turn of the last century has not gone away. This time it crops up in 1990s England. Sir Alfred Dreyfus is the headmaster of a Church of England school. His only sin has been one of omission--he has concealed his Jewish origins to further his career. However, the novel opens with Sir Alfred imprisoned for a crime far more heinous. Literary agent and fellow Jew Sam Temple (names are emblematic for Rubens, and Temple does indeed prove to be an emotional haven for Dreyfus) visits the prisoner in his cell and persuades him to write a memoir of his downfall. The resulting narrative reveals a man coming to terms with his religious identity, and reclaiming his family's past. It is a deeply felt account of spiritual renewal, and should be read as an expertly crafted parable. Fans of psychological realism may balk at the evil anti-Semites she pits against her hero, but will rally at the sly humour of her ending. --Lilian Pizzichini

Review

Telling and moving ... [with] flashes of eloquence and insight (SUNDAY TIMES)

A book of soaring righteousness, a masterful book, one that must be read (SCOTSMAN)

This is an immensely powerful novel to stir the blood of even the most detached readers (DAILY MAIL)

I could not stop turning the pages (SPECTATOR)

About this edition

• Publisher: Abacus
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0349111391
• ISBN 13: 9780349111391
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288