Affinity Konar's “Mischling”

After being immersed in non-fiction during my years of research for The Mischlinge Exposé, Affinity Konar's novel has been a welcome respite.

“As we'd grown, that word mischling—we heard it more and more, and its use in our presence had inspired Zayde to give us the Classification of Living Things. Never mind this Nuremberg abomination, he'd say. He'd tell us to ignore this talk of mixed breeds, corssed genetics, of quarter-Jews and kindred, these absurd, hateful tests that tried to divide our people down to the last drop of blood and marriage and place of worship. When you hear that word, he'd say, dwell on the variation of all living things. Sustain yourself, in awe of this.”