Publishers Weekly, April 2025
Hass debuts with a memorable tale of discrimination and hardship faced by a young Jewish man in pre-WWII eastern Poland. In 1933, teenager Wolchi lives with his parents, brother, and sister in a small town in Galicia, where his father works as a bookbinder and printer. Their financial stability is upended when wealthy neighbor Igor Goreki stops the government from using Wolchi’s father as its printer after Igor’s son, Nicholas, is injured while taking part in an antisemitic attack on Wolchi’s family. Determined to fight back against the escalating violence, Wolchi and his sister, Leja, speak out against the town’s antisemitic persecutors. Then, after rising tensions with the Gorekis end in more brutality, they’re forced to flee to Krakow. When the Germans take control of the city, Wolchi and Leja return to their now Russian-ruled town, where more tragedies ensue. As the plot unfolds, Hass documents the gradual erosion of Wolchi’s family’s rights in fine-grained detail, showing how they’re uprooted by the German and Russian occupations alike. Readers will be moved by this story of a never-ending struggle for survival.
Reedsy Discovery, March 2024
Must read 🏆 - A masterful tale of love, conflict, and revenge depicting a young man's journey to adulthood in war torn Central Europe.
The Days Before Tomorrow follows a young Ukrainian Jewish boy’s journey to adulthood from the interwar years through Hitler’s rise to power. Along with his sister Leja, young Wolchi confronts the scourge of antisemitism in that part of Central Europe historian Timothy Snyder termed the “Bloodlands.”
As Wolchi grows, he uncovers a secret that threatens to tear his family apart and serves as his introduction to the imbalance of power in human affairs.
Working for his printer father, he gains mechanical skills that he hones in pre-war Krakow. There, he meets his first love and learns sad truths about the fickleness of emotional involvement.
As war spreads across Europe, Wolchi’s life is tossed from one great power to another. The skills he has acquired, however, serve him well as he is shipped to a wartime factory deep in the Soviet Union.
This story is told against a backdrop of family love and betrayal, first love and abandonment, and always the hostility between masters and their subjects. The author depicts not just the evil of antisemitism, but the frequent acts of kindness of those bound by a common fate. He does this with a masterful hand, exposing humanity and inhumanity with fully realized actors.
The descriptions are evocative. You feel the cold of winter, the rush of a winter, and the dank interior of a mine. Like Anthony Doerr's portrayal of clocks and radios in All the Light We Cannot See, the author’s descriptions of an old printing press are vivid and detailed.
The conclusion is satisfying, producing a climax the reader has longed for and a resolution that harkens back to the opening pages of the story.
The best historical fiction not only tells a good story well, but teaches readers something new, demanding that they learn more. Mark Hass does both in this well crafted tale of love, conflict, and revenge.
Readers' Favorite, June 2024
The Days Before Tomorrow by Mark Hass is an epic historical novel that delves deep into the lives of Wolchi and Leja, two siblings caught in the turbulent currents of Eastern Europe between the World Wars. Set against the haunting backdrops of Western Ukraine, 1930s Krakow, and a wartime Soviet Union, this book is a tale of survival and a profound exploration of family, betrayal, and the pursuit of vengeance. Hass introduces us to Wolchi, a superstitious and naïve teenage boy, and his older sister Leja, a strong and bookish young woman. When a violent anti-Semitic attack throws their once-stable world into chaos, the siblings are forced to navigate a shattered landscape, each forging their path through the horrors of war.
The Days Before Tomorrow excels in its vivid portrayal of the era's atmosphere. From the small towns of Western Ukraine to Krakow's bustling, politically charged streets, Hass paints a compelling picture of a beautiful and terrifying world. The character development is superior, and the narrative is perfectly executed. It’s an emotional story, and I cried a lot. Hass's literary masterpiece should be in every high school classroom. It’s certain to be a classic, joining the ranks of To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. If you're drawn to historical fiction that confronts the harsh realities of history while weaving a deeply personal story, this novel is a must-read. Five stars don’t do this book justice. It’s that good.
The Book Life Prize, June 2024
"An often riveting work of historical fiction, The Days Before Tomorrow is set in Western Ukraine in the years spanning the period between WWI and WWII. Hass centers the story on both the personal struggles of siblings Wolchi and Leja as well as the broader conflicts unfolding in their communities and the world at-large. . . They are both well-drawn, as are their parents and homelife, and the author provides them with an emotionally satisfying ending."