Dear Fang, with Love

Readers never meet the titular Fang, who is the boyfriend of Vera, the emotionally unstable daughter of Lucas and Katya. Vera's emails to Fang are sent from Vilnius, Lithuania, where she and Lucas are on a Jewish history tour. Lucas is desperate to make up for his years as an absent father. Vilnius is not just a vacation destination; his legendary Grandma Sylvia was born there. During World War II she escaped from the Stutthof concentration camp and joined the Polish Resistance before migrating to the United States. Here is the chance for Lucas to find his family and prove he can be a real father. The novel is told in alternating voices, Lucas's first-person narration and Vera's emails and journal entries. While Vera's writing becomes increasing incoherent, Lucas is an affable and kindhearted narrator whose perspective makes the dark subjects of the novel accessible.