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Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel by Alan Lessik
“What is the sound of one heart breaking? Part travelogue, part history, part romance and part Zen meditation, Make the Dark Night Shine sweeps over the reader with overlapping waves of emotion.” —Viet Dinh
“Make the Dark Night Shine beams with honesty while it explores the creation of chosen families. At its core, this story is a sweeping journey highlighting our humanity and our deep need for home, love and acceptance.”—Corie Adjmi
Inspired by the author’s family history, Make the Dark Night Shine is a love letter from a father to the daughter he never met.
In 1919, Kenzo Uchida and his partner Mitsu arrive in Constantinople to open the new Japanese Consulate. Kenzo meets Elisa, a feisty Ukrainian cigarette girl in a nightclub and she becomes his consort to hide his gay relationship while in Europe. The unlikely trio begin an adventure in the decadence of post-war Paris until disaster strikes.
Returning to the growing militarism in Japan, Kenzo finds an unexpected path in Zen Buddhism. Yet no teachings prepare him for the revelations to come — about his life, his loves, and the events around him. On the eve of WWII, he discovers that he has a daughter living with Elisa in New York. He leaves the monastery on a perilous mission to promote peace with a secret plan to reunite with his daughter Nina.
Cinematic in scope, this novel lyrically captures the world on the brink of war. As Kenzo builds — and fights for — his chosen family, larger forces threaten all. Sweeping, meditative, and achingly beautiful, Make the Dark Night Shine explores the many worlds a life can inhabit, and the hidden worlds we find in ourselves.
A mesmerizing accounting of a man’s life as told in a kōan to his daughter, Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel by Alan Lessik is a rich, beautifully told, moving account of the adventures of his life.
A kōan is a Zen teaching story that Zen monks typically write on their last day; it’s also a beautiful format for this candid story filled with humility and love. Kenzo, the story’s main character, is serving as the Consul General first appointed to a post in Turkey and then later, to other places such as France. Kenzo travels with Mitsu, his life partner, as they embody the concept of shudō, a tradition that predates the Samurai, which is passed from generation to generation. In Kenzo’s embodiment, as in the tradition itself, shudō is the sacred practice of a shared intimacy between and among men. It’s in the intersection between the mores of these cultures where Kenzo finds he must find himself a beard, or a female consort that can help him cover his homosexual proclivities. Enter Eliza, a cigarette girl whose fire for life and whose outgoing personality helps her quickly acclimate to those around her. The three—Kenzo, Mitzu and Eliza—have an amazing adventure until Kenzo must return to Japan. With its increasing militarism, Kenzo finds himself taking an unexpected path towards Zen Buddhism. Their practices fit Kenzo’s personality well; however, nothing can prepare him for what’s to come. Learning he has a daughter feels just as groundbreaking to Kenzo as the war that is on the horizon; and yet, both this revelation, the work he’ll do to reach Nina, his daughter, and the war will take everything he can give. Will he be able to reach Nina, or will she never know her father?
While the travels Kenzo experiences through Make the Dark Night Shine are truly astonishing, the way these cultures, the people, and the dynamics at play for a homosexual man make this book a true work of art. I’ve not lived in the post-war era in Paris, and yet, I feel as if I’ve awoken from the most beautiful of dreams after reading Alan Lessik’s writing. His writing is poetic, moving, and lyrical. I loved the way he embodied not just the era, the environment, the dynamics, but also the people. I’m not sure how Alan was able to showcase each culture so astutely. And yet, one’s life doesn’t always play out the way one may desire. In this way, Kenzo’s humility and personality are dynamic. He’s a fascinating, unique character that readers will return to time and time again.
Adult readers of many genres will enjoy Alan Lessik’s, Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel. With an insightful look into history, its people and amazing cultures, with a dynamic set of characters, and a complex, effervescent plotline, this fabulous novel is a unique story that readers won’t soon forget. Chick Lit Book Café highly recommends Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel by Alan Lessik. Book reviewed by Mary Rosenthal for Chick Lit Book Café -Multi-Genre Literary Reviews.
Buy Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel by Alan Lessik today!!
Make the Dark Night Shine: A Zen Novel by Alan Lessik
CLBC International Book Excellence Award Winner
Historical Fiction, Family Saga & LGBTQ Fiction
Chick Lit Book Café – Multi-Genre Literary Reviews
Based in Berlin, Alan Lessik is a novelist and writer, Zen practitioner, amateur figure skater, and Queer activist. He is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.
His second novel, Make the Dark Night Shine, will be published by Rebel Satori Press in October 2023.
His debut novel, The Troubleseeker (Chelsea Station Editions), was short-listed for the Publishing Triangle’s 2017 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. Alan’s non-fiction works and essays have been published by Lambda Literary, the Bay Area Reporter, KQED Perspectives, the Advocate, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Frontiers Newsmagazine. He has participated on panels at the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conferences, as well as at Litquake in 2017. He was chosen to tell his story on the theme of Endings at The Moth, Berkeley Story Slam and his KQED Radio Perspective, “Judge Not His Death” was one of the most commented on in 2014. He was a member of the Board of the LGBTQ Caucus of AWP from 2017-2021.
While he is working on his next novel in Berlin, he is available as a writer and copy-editor.
He can be reached at writer.lessik@gmail.com.
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