Lev Raphael: Author Appearances

Winter Eyes

Author's Note:

When Winter Eyes was first published in English, it was after a move in which I had not only switched computers but seemingly lost some manuscripts.  The novel was originally conceived as starting with a Prologue set during World War II that takes us into the hearts of the three adult protagonists who would shape Stefan Borowski's life in New York.  But I couldn't find any copy or file with the Prologue, wasn't able to recreate it, so Winter Eyes was published by St. Martin's without it.  Over a decade later, when Parthas Verlag in Berlin was bringing the book out in German, while cleaning out a cupboard I found a bound typescript of Winter Eyes that was complete.  How it got mislaid there, I don't know, but I was thrilled that the book could appear as it was meant to in at least one language. Thanks to e-publishing, the Prologue now rightfully joins the book it was separated from for so long.

"Raphael's book resembles a piano sonata, a piece he knows so well that his fingers breathed the music."
—Los Angeles Times

"...one of the most affecting, absorbing, and quietly powerful American coming-of-age novels."
—Booklist

"Raphael is a writer of vision like Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin."
—Jewish Bulletin (San Francisco)

Review of the German edition of Winter Eyes by Austrian "Green" politician Marco Schreuder

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