The Polish farm community in Massachusetts where Becca lives is predominantly Catholic. Here's a fun fact: so is Poland itself, which is nearly 90 percent Catholic to this day.
Strains of faith, and the ways in which they overlap or clash, wind their way subtly through the novel, whether it's the decidedly secular Berlin family trying to appease Gemma's rabbi or Becca having a conversation with a priest on the grounds of a former extermination camp in Poland.
These threads slowly resolve into a single question: In the wake of genocide, what does it mean to have faith?
Questions About Faith
- What made Magda start practicing Judaism?
- Why did the priest decide to spend his career in Chelmno?
- Name at least three Jewish traditions that the Berlins observed in honor of Gemma's funeral.
Chew on This
Briar Rose portrays faith and religion in a negative—or, at least, not a positive—light.
Briar Rose is about the secularization of American society just as much as it is about Jewish identity.