EDITORIAL REVIEWS OF FINDING HOME (Hungary, 1945)
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, NY 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 home town 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.
FINDING HOME examines the plight of Jews returning to their homes in Hungary after the end of World War II -- their relations with the post-war gentile community, the complexity of the emotions and issues involved, and the search for hope among ruins. I cared deeply about these characters, particularly the ambitious and strong-willed musician at the book's center, and my eyes filled with tears -- not just of sadness, but of love -- many times. I loved this novel, and recommend it highly.
---Mitchell James Kaplan, author of Rhapsody, Into the Unbounded Night and By Fire, By Water
A heart-wrenching story of Auschwitz survivors longing for home, who are forced to create the fabric of new lives woven from brittle threads of suffering, continued loss and fear, and the hope that acceptance and the power of music might heal them in the end.
---Karla M. Jay, author of The Puppet Maker’s Daughter
Dean Cycon brilliantly depicts post-World War II Budapest in his debut novel. Through the careful and documentary-like depiction of contemporary Hungarian musical life, we can gain an insight into the forgotten world of the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Heroes, victims, criminals: the author captures the potential for music to be a transcendent force for good in this sad but ultimately uplifting tale.
---Peter Barsony, Professor, Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, Hungary and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria
It is often said that it is difficult to convey the feelings and emotions of music in a novel. In his debut, Dean Cycon has done that admirably. His protagonist tries to use music to heal both her own trauma from the war, as well as that of other survivors. She further attempts to harness the power of music as a transcendent force to combat hatred, with heart-rending results. FINDING HOME is a sobering yet beautiful exploration in which Cycon speaks with a strong, literate and powerful new voice.
---Howard Jay Smith, author of Meeting Mozart and Beethoven in Love, Opus 139
