Review: Suffer Not the Mole People by Jan Notzon
"When truth is buried, only the outcasts dare to dig it up."
👋 Welcome to the Tour!
I’m thrilled to welcome you to my stop on the Breakeven Books Blog Tour for Suffer Not the Mole People by Jan Notzon. If you enjoy fiction that digs deep—into buried truths, psychological tension, and the human need to resist—this one’s going to leave a mark.
Notzon is no stranger to bold storytelling, and Suffer Not the Mole People might just be his most provocative work yet. Blending literary fiction with psychological suspense and historical allegory, the novel explores what happens when reality itself becomes suspect—and the people who question it are pushed to society’s margins.
Keep scrolling for my full review, favorite quotes, tour details, and all the links you’ll need to explore this powerful book.
📝 Book Info
Suffer Not The Mole People
By Jan Notzon
Published by Independently Published on November 13, 2020
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 314
Source: BreakEven BooksWhat does it take to forsake all that’s familiar: lives, language, customs, culture, family, history to pick up stakes and flee to a new world where much is promised but nothing guaranteed?
This is the frightful challenge facing the Kaczmarek family in 19th century Silesia, Poland. Where does an individual and a family find the courage to face such a wrenching ordeal? Will the dreams, the fears, the hopes and misgivings pull them together or tear them apart? Will they overcome their doubts or succumb to the depredations of their Prussian overlords? What kind of people would trade the security of the known for the tentative promises of freedom and opportunity?
And what is the essence of this United States of America that beckoned them and still beckons others from all the ends of the earth to its promised shores?
Follow them here on their onerous journey over land and sea and heartache as they dare to seek freedom and fortune far from the meager comforts of home.
📚 Where to Find Suffer Not the Mole People
Available on Amazon:
[amazon box ="B08NF97R18"]
🛒 KINDLE | PAPERBACK
If the above links don’t direct you to your country’s Amazon page, please feel free to contact me—I’m happy to provide the correct link.
Using my Amazon affiliate links doesn’t change the price you pay. Amazon shares a small commission with me, which helps keep this blog running—thank you!
💭My Thoughts on Suffer Not the Mole People
“When we left, we didn’t just leave a place—we left ourselves behind.”
At its core, Suffer Not the Mole People is a deeply personal story about what it costs—mentally, emotionally, spiritually—to uproot your life in search of something better. It’s not just historical fiction; it’s psychological fiction in the truest sense. This is a novel about survival, yes, but more than that—it’s about the enduring trauma of leaving behind your homeland, your culture, your sense of self.
The story centers on a Polish family emigrating to Texas in the late 19th century, but the emotions it captures feel timeless. There’s the ever-present fear of the unknown, the heartbreak of watching the life you once knew fade into memory, and the weight of trying to build a future in a place that doesn’t always welcome you.
What struck me most wasn’t the external conflict—it was the internal one. Notzon explores the way trauma lingers through generations. The characters carry invisible burdens: guilt, displacement, isolation, and a desperate desire to belong while holding onto who they were. And when the world around them demands assimilation, silence, or obedience, the psychological pressure becomes unbearable.
There’s a raw vulnerability in these pages—moments when hope glimmers and then falters. But there’s strength too. The kind of quiet, enduring strength required to leave everything behind in hopes your children might have more.
This isn’t a fast-paced read, but it’s an important one. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to leave home behind forever, this book gets to the bone of it.
About Jan Notzon
Jan Notzon is a novelist and playwright who has made Charlotte, NC his home since 1994.
His first novel, The Dogs Barking, is a coming-of-age story set in a sleepy backwater Texas border town in the 1950s, through the dislocation of university life in the ’60s and on to the raw, frenetic power of New York City. His second novel, And Ye Shall Be As Gods, recounts a brother’s fight to rescue his beloved sister from the clutches of despair and his lost love from the prison of catatonia. The Id Paradox, is the story of three friends, assumed betrayal, rescue and healing from the horrors of spiritual annihilation. His fourth, Song for the Forsaken, chronicles the tale of two sisters and the loss of faith that tests the bond between them. His penultimate, Suffer Not The Mole People, tells the story of his ancestors’ perilous emigration from 19th century Poland. His recently published, ONLY THE DEAD (Know the End of War), chronicles the lives of three families, two Mexican and one Anglo as they make their way to the showdown of the founding of the Texas Republic. His most recently published novel, To Sing Like a Mockingbird tells the story of one young man’s fight to mature beyond naïve idealism.
He has also written seven full-length plays, a one-act, The Forsaken, which was produced in two different venues in New York City and premiered in Columbia, SC. His play The Cosmological Constant was workshopped and presented as a staged reading at Actors’ Theatre in Charlotte, NC by the Applebox Production Company. His play When Good Men Do Nothing was a finalist in the Dramarama Competition in San Francisco. He has also written one children’s story, The Gift of Arbol Ceiba.
Jan has also worked as an actor, appearing on Another World, Search for Tomorrow, Matlock, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and, most recently, in Beverly Lewis’ The Confession on The Hallmark Channel, a work directed by Michael Landon Jr., starring Adrian Paul and Sherry Stringfield.
👤 More by Jan Notzon
To Sing Like a Mockingbird by Jan Notzon-Review
🔚 Final Thoughts
“Hope is a heavy thing to carry when you’re the one who has to pass it down.”
Suffer Not the Mole People is a haunting, deeply human novel that explores what it means to leave everything behind—and the emotional legacy such a choice carries. Jan Notzon doesn’t sugarcoat the immigrant experience. He allows space for the fear, the grief, the shame of feeling like a stranger in your new home—and the silent pride in surviving it all anyway.
This story may be historical in setting, but its emotional truth feels current. For anyone who has lived between cultures, questioned their place, or carried the burden of unspoken trauma, this book speaks volumes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5) – Emotionally resonant, historically grounded, and psychologically rich.
🙏 Thank You
Huge thanks to Breakeven Books for including me on the blog tour for Suffer Not the Mole People and to Jan Notzon for writing a novel that’s both emotionally resonant and culturally meaningful.
It’s always a pleasure to return to Notzon’s work—his stories are never easy, but they’re always worth the reflection they spark. This one, in particular, lingers long after the final page.
If you’re interested in literary fiction that blends history, psychology, and powerful human themes, I highly recommend giving this one a closer look.
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