Local author, Commack resident Meryl Ain’s new novel, “Shadows We Carry,” published by SparkPress, takes place on Long Island and is the sequel to her award-winning post-Holocaust novel, “The Takeaway Men.” It follows dual protagonists, twin sisters, Bronka and JoJo Lubinski, as they find themselves on the cusp of their own burgeoning womanhood, as well as at a historical watershed moment of change for women in the late 1960s. The bildungsroman deals with difficult issues such as surviving traumas of war, anti-Semitism, and the struggles of the women’s liberation movement.

“It is a sequel, but it can also be read as a standalone. The first book takes place in the ‘50s and in the early ‘60s, and it’s about a Holocaust survivor and his family who come to the United States in the years after World War II, and what that experience is like,” said Ain.

She added, “I wanted to write a post-Holocaust novel rather than a Holocaust novel because Holocaust novels, there are many, many of them; in fact, it’s the best-selling category on Amazon, but there aren’t that many post-Holocaust novels about what happened to the survivors and their families after World War II, so I wanted to capture that experience, which was a very difficult experience.”

There is a list of beloved recurring characters reappearing in Ain’s sophomore novel, as well as an introduction to new characters populating this extended world-building. “You don’t have to read the first book first. I mean, I would be thrilled if people did,” said Ain, who assures that the book can be read on its own, or first, with the sequel being read after as a de-facto prequel.

“Shadows We Carry” starts in the tumultuous late ‘60s, and it tells the story of the fictional Lubinski twins, who are students at Queens College, grappling with very real issues of the time, such as workplace inequality, fighting for career opportunities in male-dominated industries, and the availability of family-planning options. One twin has dreams of becoming a famous actress, while the other aspires to a career in journalism, while both also long for a partner and family of their own. It starts out in Queens, as many immigrant families did at the time, but one of the twins becomes engaged to a man from a North Shore community on Long Island, which has been fictionalized and is referred to as “Rolling Hills.” It also features the real-life Long Island towns of Syosset and Dix Hills, while also taking place in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and other familiar East Coast locales, explained the author, who grew up in northeastern Queens in a Jewish family. “They say write about what you know,” she said.

The sisters hail from a line of strong women, with their mother saving their father in the Holocaust before the family immigrated to New York. When the story takes place, the family patriarch is still suffering from the trauma of surviving the ordeal and losing his first family in Poland.

“If you’re fascinated with the post-World War II era, or you’re a Baby Boomer, it covers that time,” said Ain. “I do meticulous research. I’m a former high school history teacher.”

While not the child of Holocaust survivors herself, the former Port Washington District teacher explained that both of her parents served in the U.S. Army in World War II and ever since reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” in the sixth grade, she has been drawn to this difficult subject matter, which remains a mystery to fully comprehend.

“Both sisters are constrained by the times in which they lived,” explained Ain. This is a riveting story to follow for women today to learn about the types of women who paved the way for them and for the opportunities which they may take for granted, while having Long Island as the intriguing backdrop in the aftermath of World War II.

Ain is a member of The International Advisory Board for Holocaust Survivor Day and is the host of the podcast “People of the Book,” as well as the founder of the Facebook group “Jews Love To Read.” Her books can be found on Amazon or on her website, merylain.com.

If you have an idea for a local historical story, mystery, or legend you would like to see featured in this column, message shanabraff@optonline.net