In late nineteenth century Vienna, Moritz, a young man from a well-to-do Jewish family, lives in the shadow of his older brother. Afflicted by a birthmark which in ancient times would have seen him left out for the wolves, he tries to retreat into a world of reading and writing. But unable to escape the ‘target on his face’, as his father calls it, Moritz is forced by his impatient nation into war. A story that takes the reader deep into the heady world of war, Zionism, salons, writers, artists, sexual awakening and the randomness of tragedy and redemption that follow. About the author: Joe Reich is a practising ophthalmologist in Melbourne whose writing was encouraged by being a finalist in the Women’s Weekly Short Story competition. He has been involved in writing university and hospital revues and comedy debates, and has published five previous books. He lives in Melbourne.
