Finding Home (Hungary, 1945) - by Dean Cycon

Book Synopsis

For nine months in Auschwitz, eighteen-year-old Eva Fleiss clung to sanity by playing piano on imaginary keyboards. After liberation, Eva and the five remaining Jews of Laszlo, Hungary, journey home, seeking to restart their lives. Yet the town that deported them is not ready to embrace their return. Their former neighbors and friends resist relinquishing their newfound status and property, and they struggle with their roles as perpetrators, enablers, and bystanders during the Holocaust.

Longing for connection to her old life, Eva agrees to clean her former home, now the mayor's home, in return for practice time on her piano. As her profound experiences allow her to access music at a depth she didn't know existed, Eva's performances begin to affect those around her-with unexpected consequences.

Review Quotes

"Historically and dramatically compelling, Cycon's multi-layered narrative unspools the under-reported story of endemic post-war antisemitism... A haunting, emotionally challenging read, with frightening contemporary relevance."

- Kirkus Reviews

"Finding Home is a poetic, sweeping, and transportive story of Jewish returnees seeking to rebuild their lives after the war. In a world where prejudice and greed haven't ceased, and where displacement continues long after liberation, Cycon gives us a powerful and emotional read, with faith, music, and beauty central to the search for home."

-Jennifer Rosner, award-winning author of The Yellow Bird Sings and Once We Were Home

"The image of Eva Fleiss playing imaginary keys at Auschwitz to contain the madness that surrounds her is the epicenter of this beautiful novel. Like Ulysses returning to Ithaca, she will face a variety of tests that will define-for her and for us-the meaning of home in a disrupted world. A powerful debut!"

-Ilan Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor at Amherst College and editor of The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories

"In his debut novel, Finding Home, Dean Cycon delves deeply into the seldom-explored story of Jewish life after the Holocaust. As survivors return home to the ruins of their former lives, they must rely on the restorative powers of hope, courage, and art as they work to heal their souls and repair the world. Cycon tells a tale that must be told with great passion and historical dedication."

-David R. Gillham, New York Times Bestselling Author of City of Women

"Finding Home by Dean Cycon is a rollercoaster ride of deep emotions as six Holocaust survivors-five men and a teenage girl-are returned to their hometown in Hungary directly after the war. The anger and resentment from the townspeople who had taken over all of the Jewish houses and businesses is palpable and disturbing. This is a truth-telling historical novel at its best, where the author has not flinched and the reader cannot put the book down."

-Jane Yolen, author of more than 400 books including the Holocaust novels The Devil's Arithmetic, Mapping the Bones, and Briar Rose. Her book Kaddish won the Sophie Brodie medal in 2022, the same year she won Sydney Taylor Lifetime Award.