Marika

The book, Marika, by Andrea Cheng, opens with the main character, Marika, or Maria as her father called her, forging documents with her father, Apa, and Uncle Lipot,. The story is set in Hungary, in December, 1939, when Marika was twelve years old. The reader learns that the family is Jewish, although they celebrated Catholic traditions. The author made it clear that the forged documents would be very important to the family’s future safety.

The author implies that the reason Marika forged the documents had to do with their last name being Jewish. Marika was not exactly sure why she was being asked to forge the family documents, and she knew it is wrong, but did it for her beloved uncle and father, because she had the nicest handwriting. While she worked on the papers, Marika thought to herself, “It was bad luck that we were Schnurmacher so everyone knew we were Jewish…What difference would it make to anyone? When I grew up, I would change my name, and Jew would be gone forever. No need to forge anything.” (pg.3) When Marika finished erasing any trace of the word Jew from each birth certificate her father felt relieved.

The story then flashes back to 1934, when Marika was six years old. The reader learns that Marika’s family was probably wealthier than others. They have a summer home, and they also have a nanny and a cook. When Marika returned from her summer home to their duplex, she found it had been turned into two separate homes; one for her father, and one for the rest of the family. The author gives no explanation as to why this happened. Marika was very disappointed because she felt close to her father and does not see him as much as she would like. She does not seem close to her mother, Anya. Anya seemed to be most interested in shopping, playing the piano, even though she is mostly deaf, and her appearance. The reader learns she has make up, hair, and clothes that don’t look like anyone else’s mom.

The author also introduces the reader to Andras, Marika’s older brother, and Maxi, who is a doll her Uncle Lipot gave her. She thinks of Maxi as her best friend. Her uncle was worried when she gave her doll a Jewish name. He commented, “ …you might be wise to pick something more Hungarian.”(pg. 10) Marika told Maxi a horrible story about two Jewish boys who got their eyes poked out by chickens, but reassured Maxi nothing like that would happen to him.

Another indication that this family may have been wealthier than other families was that they insisted on the best schooling for their children. In particular, they wanted Marika to be able to speak many languages, including French. Marika resisted her new French nanny, Collette, when she first arrived, as she goes onto resist other changes or things that make her stand out to others.

At this part of the book, it is 1935, and this part of the story ends with Collette being sent away, and Anya taking on more of a mothering role with Marika, something that neither one of them seem to be happy about.