Puppet

By Eva Wiseman

A heartbreaking episode in history, explained through the story of a young servant girl in the late 1800s.

The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village of Tisza Eszvar face the ‘blood libel’ — the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A fourteen-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial.

This powerful fictionalized account of one of the last blood libel trial in Europe is told through the eyes of Julie, a friend of the murdered Esther, and a servant at the jail where Morris is imprisoned. Julie is no stranger to suffering herself. An abused child, when her mother dies her alcoholic father separates her from her beloved baby sister. Julie and Morris, bound by the tragedy of the times, become unlikely allies. Although Puppet is a novel, it is based upon a real court case that took place in Hungary in 1883. In Hungary today, the name Morris Scharf has become synonymous with “traitor.”

Once again, Eva Wiseman illuminates a heartbreaking episode in history for young readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9781770490284

Reviews for Puppet

[ydenomy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This incredible #bookaday and Snow Willow nominee is based on the historical case of the 1882 disappearance of Esther Solymosi and the unfair prosecution of four Jewish men, including Joseph Scharf, whose own son, Morris, was made to testify against his own father. This book was an excellent read and a perfect fit for the grade 8 unit on injustice.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A powerful fictionalized account of the the last "blood libel" trial in Europe. A revealing portrait of anti-Semitism in late 19th century eastern Europe.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: Many reasons: this is set within my preferred historical era, I enjoy Jewish history, I enjoy 19th century court/trial cases and finally I've read and enjoyed this author before.Throughout time immemorial until the not so distant past, parents have kept children under control with stories of monsters, evils or persons who enjoy kidnapping and eating children. When I was young the remnant of this survived in the story of the "Bogeyman". This is a sad and horrific story where that fabled evil turned onto a real group of people in a small town in Hungary when a scapegoat was wanted and the villagers turned with a vengeance a mass racism towards the Jews to explain the disappearance of a local Christian girl. A riveting, spellbinding story based on a true case. One can hardly believe that such mass hysteria can turn once seemingly placid people into violent racists. The author has extensively made use of the actual trial records giving authenticity to the dialogue found within the book. While no one is innocent of bigotry in this story, we see how an initially small group of instigators easily rile up the masses and the methods they use to fuel the fire until it reaches epic proportions and everyone is beyond seeing reason. Examining this type of case can help one see how modern atrocities reach the frenzy they sometimes do. A brilliant story, with a fantastic main character in the fictional Julie who though she sometimes has doubts, does see beyond the facade and triumphs even against great harm to herself. A page-turning book, as one keeps muttering to oneself how people could actually behave in this deplorable way (and still do) and yet the rays of hope shine through in Julie and a few other characters. A unique look at historical Jewish persecution, that is not about the Holocaust. Recommended.

[tzacek_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1882, Julie Vamosi is a teenager living and working with her younger sister, her sick mother, and her drunk father in Tisza-Eszlar, Hungary. When her her friend, Esther goes missing one day on her way to buy paint, Esther's mother immediately blames the local Jewish population, claiming that they lured her into their synagogue and slit her throat, using her blood to make matzo. What follows is the accusation, arrest, and trial of a handful of Jewish men, with the finger pointed at them by one of their own: Morris Scharf. I very much enjoyed this story, sad as it was. The blatant racism of the townspeople bumping up against the few people defending clearly innocent men was well-written and fleshed out. My only problem was that the ending felt rushed. Sometimes I feel like I wouldn't mind another 50 pages in a book (and this one is relatively short at approximately 250 pages) in order to feel like I've had a nice conclusion to the story.

[takieya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finally got this book, as part of Library Thing's early reviewers. I thought the story was well written, and came at the events from an interesting perspective. I would definitely recommend checking it out to anyone who likes stories about disputes and scapegoating, and the outcomes of such events.

[catheolson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This historical fiction novel geared to teen readers recounts a horrible injustice done to Jews in a Hungarian village. When a young girl disappeared one afternoon, the local Jewish men are accused of having murdered her for a religious ritual. While I appreciate the author's intent of sharing the story of this heartbreaking piece of history, I thought the characters stereotypical and the dialogue mostly unreal--making this just a so-so book for me.

[susiebookworm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading Puppet and one of Wiseman's other historical novels, The Last Song, within a fairly close time period, I think I just have a love/hate relationship with the author's books. The hate part: there's often a lot of time that gets skipped that could instead have been fleshed out more. In Puppet, especially, there's a lot of jumping around without much development. The Jews are suddenly blamed for Esther's death (never mind that there's absolutely no sign of foul play at that point), Morris is suddenly completely indoctrinated by the Christian Hungarians, and Julie is, for some reason, traveling back to her hometown from the county capital to buy simple sewing supplies. There's occasional plot holes, lots of underdevelopment, and flat characterizations.The love part: Wiseman takes horrific events from Jewish history and turns them into novels that teach younger readers (and some of us older ones, too) about things that are often neglected in history books. I think I'd run across a mention of the blood libel trials once in all of my other readings. It's a tough subject to read about; I was upset for most of the book at the injustices of the characters' lives, from the prejudices that scapegoat the Jews to the abuse and hard lives of Julie, her sister, and her friends. The last third of the book is absolutely gripping as the actual blood libel trial is covered. Readers are in suspense as we hear the (mostly coerced) lies told by some witnesses, the outrage of the falsely accused, and the internal conflicts of those torn between protecting themselves and doing what's right for others.Final consensus: If I was a younger reader, I likely wouldn't notice all the things that I "hated" about the initial development of Puppet. Instead, I would have been thrilled because I was reading about a period of history previously unknown to me and felt righteously indignant over the injustices portrayed in the novel. In this regards, Puppet is perhaps better for a younger audience, though it is still an informative - and quick - read for the older set.

[meggyweg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got this book free from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.An excellent Jewish historical fiction, centered around a "blood libel" trial which occurred in Hungary in the 1880s. A local village girl, Esther, disappeared and the Jewish community was accused of killing her to use her blood for matzoh. One teenage Jewish boy, Morris Scharf (actually Moric; most of the names in the novel have been Anglicized), was suborned into falsely testifying against everyone else, including his own father.The story is told from the point of view of a poor gentile girl named Julie, a friend of both Morris and the missing girl. As the housekeeper at the jail where all the accused Jewish people are locked up, she witnesses a great deal, and goes on to testify at the trial.This book was very well done, especially in its characterization. Morris betrayed his entire community when life and death were at stake, but through Julie's eyes you see what pressure he was under and I think very few people would have had the courage to behave any differently. Even the accusers, most of them, are not demons, but only people deeply traumatized by Esther's disappearance and looking for someone to blame. There are heroes in the story, but they aren't perfect; they're scared, they're flawed, they have problems.My only issue with the book is a fairly minor one: I think the foreshadowing as to Esther's true fate was a little too heavy. I knew at once what had become of her.Highly recommended, especially for those interested in Jewish history and stories about prejudice.