I usually don't write review of shorter stories unless they are part of a collection but this one was offered on Book Sirens and I couldn't pass it up after reading the synopsis. Wow, what a story! Here is my review of this boxing novella.
Title/Author: “At the Corner of Hitler and Goering” by Joseph Kovler
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: I usually don’t leave reviews
for historical novellas as it can be difficult for an author to fully
illustrate the era and the culture of the era in such a short amount of pages,
but this boxing novella set in 1938 New York City does it quite well. Author Joseph Kovler does a masterful job penning
this story of two young Jewish boxers.
After Joe Louis defeated Max Schmelling in Yankee Stadium,
a Nazi leader who has a camp in the city wants to exact revenge for the German
boxer’s loss. Through the promise of a
good payday, he brings the boxers and their uncle, who was a championship boxer
and is now the trainer, to the camp.
What follows is a tense story illustrating both the loyalty that
Germans, even if they were in a foreign nation, had to Hitler and the Nazi Party
and also what Jewish people faced when they had to confront Nazis. I won’t give away any more of the story, but
it is one that you will finish fairly quickly.
I should also add that the boxing scenes in the story are
quite good and you get a good insight into both the boxers and their corner personnel. Of course, as one might expect in this
setting, there is more fighting and other actions that take place in the ring
(and just outside it) than boxing. The overall
story, whether in the ring, at the camp or elsewhere, is riveting and it is
recommended for a quick read for those readers who are interested in boxing or
World War II stories.
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