An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the Camps

*****2026 First Place PenCraft Book Award Winner in Realistic Fiction
*****2025 Firebird Book Award Winner in Holocaust and friendship categories
*****2025 Readers' Choice Book Award in adult fiction category
*****2025 Literary Global Award finalist in historical fiction category and cover design (fiction)

Outstanding Creator Awards – Fall & Winter 2025
• 1st Place – Jewish Literature
• 2nd Place – Historical Fiction
• 3rd Place – Multicultural / Multilingual / Bilingual Fiction
• 3rd Place – Motivational / Inspirational Books

"An Epiphany In Lilacs" is a young adult novel set in a DP camp outside Hamburg, Germany following the end of World War II. After liberation in May 1945, Daniel, a 14-year-old Latvian Jew, is treated in a field hospital in the British zone of partitioned Germany. A survivor of various concentration camps, Daniel fights to recover from starvation and disease. Racked by nightmares, a nearly nightly occurrence, sleep is almost impossible for him. Through his love of nature, and pre-war memories, Daniel struggles to find comfort. He forms an intriguing bond with an older German gentile, another survivor. Later on, as he joins a theater troupe, Daniel tries to move on with his life, yet still searching for the whereabouts of his mother and two sisters. Poised on the cusp of a new life, young Daniel makes his way to the country that will become his new home.

*****Five Star Review by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite
"An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the Camps" by Iris Dorbian is a moving book, set within the years following World War II. It is 1945 when Daniel, a Latvian Jew, finally tastes freedom after his horrible experience of the Holocaust. Daniel is still haunted by memories of the concentration camp. This novel explores insomnia and the relentless disquietude that settles on the mind of this young boy as he struggles to come to terms with his new reality, developing new connections, and trying new things. All along, he still doesn’t know where his parents are. Will he be able to locate them?

Rich with powerful and piercing historical references, An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the Camps by Iris Dorbian captures the reality of Jews who survived the Holocaust, the inner scars and the struggles with uncertainty, incessant nightmares, and fitting into the day-to-day lifestyle of ordinary people. It is a heart-wrenching story, told in excellent prose and in the author’s unique style. I have been a huge fan of Holocaust literature, starting with Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and have always felt appalled by man’s cruelty to fellow man. In this new book, the author explores the terrible effects of a fragment of history on the life of a little boy. This is a story to read and share, a powerful story about freedom and the perils of war. Well-crafted with compelling characters and interesting themes."

From D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"The setting takes place outside of Hamburg, Germany, after World War II. Fourteen-year-old Daniel has barely survived various concentration camps and he's in a field hospital still struggling to survive and recover. How can a young adult on the cusp of death recover from devastating physical and psychological wounds?

More so than most accounts of post-World War II, An Epiphany in Lilacs offers a powerful survey of post-traumatic stress syndrome and the lengthy and challenging process of healing from wartime atrocities, as seen from a young man who is on the brink of adulthood; yet still a child in many ways.

The choices he makes at this point are poignant and reflective of the experiences of Displaced People ('DPs') who occupied these camps and found their lives and world in shambles, with no clear path to reconstruction in the face of chaos and confusion.

While all these sound like adult themes, the special pleasure of An Epiphany in Lilacs is Iris Dorbian's ability to reflect the perspective of a juvenile as he struggles to gain a new lease on life with revised perspectives and fresh goals. That the story line carefully refutes popular myths (such as those that most Germans were Nazis) only enhances its lessons and stories of courage, diversity, and how one not only survives but grows from world-changing devastation.

"An Epiphany in Lilacs" is not only a tribute to the DPs who physically survived the war and were challenged to mentally recover and take a new road in life; but is a powerful survey of...the long path one teen takes to rediscover meaning in his world. It's highly recommended as not only an intrinsic addition to any teen reading The Diary of Anne Frank and similar nonfiction stories, but for classrooms looking for discussion materials specific to the experiences of Displaced Persons in the aftermath of the war."