A Postcard from the Volcano, a title taken from Wallace Stevens' same-named 1935 poem, examines the lives of a group of friends who came together in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), inspired mostly by a love of music, but being of varying backgrounds. It is an apt title for this book, although I am inclined to include the phrase 'edge of' to volcano. Except for one, none survived the result of Germany's drift into the abyss of madness. That is the only spoiler I will give away.

The book is essentially the story of violin teacher Max Hofmann as being recounted by his favorite violin student. During her last visit to him in London's winter of 1961, just before his death, he bequeathed her two things, his old violin and a postcard with seven names on it. As Max tells her, "A violin is just a violin. The other thing is not for you to have. It is for you to do."

The student has some difficulty understanding what Max wants, but she does eventually realize what he had asked of her and so she goes about piecing together Max's story and that of his six friends who had come together in Breslau.

One of his mentors at his new school indirectly brings him in contact with Catholic ideas, and that faith has a strong influence on him although his family is Protestant. His best friend Adam, a young Polish nobleman, rejects his Catholic faith, but eventually is returned to it in a manner readers must find out for themselves. No spoilers, as I mentioned before. But it leads him back to Poland, and away from his friends. Beckett reveals this return in touching moments and makes it completely believable. Something that is not always easy to do.

The creeping effect of Hitler's influence on the way people act and think in Breslau and the effect it has on Max's circle of friends is well told by Beckett with moments that are painful to read for one sometimes wants not to believe that human nature can be so easily perverted. Sadly, we have even more recent examples of this to remind us that human nature is not benign.

There are just two things that are amiss in this book. One is the effect that the German hyperinflation would have had on all the individuals in this book. Somehow they seem to exist as if untouched by it. Secondly there is too strong a favoritism given to the Catholic Church, which is made to appear as being the good guy while the Protestant ministers are being portrayed as being fully co-operative with Hitler's goons. One wants to object to that as many German Protestant ministers refused allegiance to Hitler when asked to give it, and many died for that refusal. Protestant churches were closed down much earlier once the war started than the Catholic ones.

Beckett also totally avoids the anti-Semitic nationalism that arose in Poland prior to the war, often indirectly supported by the Catholic church. A pastoral letter by Polish Archbishop August Hlond in February 1936 bore the title "On the Principles of Catholic Morality". This epistle showed a clear example of the tensions between Polish nationalism and its evolving anti-Semitism and Church morality. While the epistle offered up an obligation to respect the Jew as an individual, it also prohibited the adoption of tactics in a political struggle that would conflict with Christian ethics. The epistle therefore contained a list of accusations against the Jews, including, as Hlond wrote, that Jews battle against the Church and serve as the vanguard of atheism and communism. Furthermore, he claimed they corrupt morality, disseminate pornography, and deal in treachery and usury.

Beckett, therefore, does not give a true picture in this regard. But, otherwise, one cannot fault her for the atmosphere she recreates and the insights she offers. A Postcard from the Volcano is an excellent introduction to the history of the pre-WWII years in Germany and even Poland as long as one is aware that things were even more complicated as indicated, and often even more sinister.