The protagonist of Dara Levan’s new novel, Shaken to the Core, is named Joy Stern. Her first and last name embody two emotions that don’t typically go together. Yet, as Levan conveys, it’s completely normal to feel a wide range of emotions, especially in times of duress.
Joy and her husband Andre were college sweethearts at Middlebury in Vermont. They settled in that picturesque New England state — he as an architect and she as a photographer — and hoped to start a family, but children were not to be a part of their future. The couple’s infertility may seem at first to be the issue that will steer the narrative, but as the title of the book suggests, these challenges are just the beginning.
When her mother dies unexpectedly, Joy searches for some semblance of closure. She finds her mother’s old journal and learns that she always wanted to open a summer camp. In order to memorialize her mother, Joy becomes determined to make this dream come true and finds a longstanding camp that is for sale. Around this time, Andre’s health declines and for a moment Joy puts her plans for opening a camp on hold. Andre insists she follow through and vows to help her.
Joy envisions her camp as an inclusive place for all, and decides to rename it the Hebrew word for “rainbow” because she wants it to be “like the spectrum of colors in a rainbow. Distinct, vivid, individualistic. In its entity, it’s an arc of harmony and beauty.”
Although they are supporting characters, Andre’s Colombian Jewish family members add another layer of texture to the story, whether they are joining a Shabbat or Hanukkah celebration, or providing a warm support system for Joy as she grieves her mother.
Levan’s talent for storytelling rests in her ability to find brightness in tough circumstances. In her debut novel, she explored the complexities of navigating adulthood with toxic parents in the mix. Now, in her second novel, she demonstrates that although unexpected crises can arise and throw people off balance, no obstacle is insurmountable with the support of loved ones.
Susan Blumberg-Kason is a memoirist and biographer and co-editor of an anthology set in Hong Kong. She is a regular contributor to the Asian Review of Books and World Literature Today. She became interested in 1930s Shanghai when she was in the city in the mid-1990s for her thesis research. Susan now lives with her family in the Chicago suburbs.
