- Hardcover: 264 pages
- Publisher: Lyons Press (April 15 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1599212404
- ISBN-13: 978-1599212401
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.9 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,516,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Movingly written, Michael Benanav's search for his grandparents' tragic memories and experiences brings the reader closer to an ineffable truth that must not be forgotten."
Elie Wiesel
Product Description
One man’s personal journey to trace his grandparents’ remarkable fate during the worst of times.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A personal history of love and loss, May 27 2008
By Trevor Stricker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Joshua and Isadora: A True Tale of Loss and Love in the Holocaust (Hardcover)
A chronicle of the author's grandparents who were married in a refugee train en-route from the Nazis, without speaking a language in common. True life fairy tale? Uplifting tale of people recovering from incredible oppression? Really it's so much more than this. This book is part history lesson, as the roots of European Jewry are explained, part travelogue, as the author travels to the places his grandparents were, and part historical narrative, the personal thread that ran through Europe convulsing during the war.Joshua, Isadora, and several generations are given life as real people. Foibles when the young grandmother gets into a horse-drawn carriage accident while sneaking out for sweets. Heroic moments when a Jewish school is set up against a backdrop of pogroms and discrimination. Questionable decisions when disassembled weapons are hidden beneath the baby father of the author's bedding as British soldiers come searching. Heartwarming moments when children forge friendships in fetid refugee camps. A nuanced view of a now gone Europe is presented without easy moralizing. The same peasants that ransack corpses as they fall out of forced marches provide a starving young girl with life saving food. Life in concentration camps is presented starkly. Skill with sewing uniforms brings double rations and points out the absurdity of who lived and who died.
The book is mindful to be honest about the limitations of being based on old memories forged during difficult times. Ways that reality could have differed from recollection are noted. This breathes humanity into the people who made these memories. It makes them less idealized icons who shined at their moment in history, and more humans doing their best in a difficult time.
It is a pleasure to be welcomed into the life of the author and introduced to the people in his history. This is really a magnificent work.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grandson's Loving Tribute, July 1 2008
By Christine Greene - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Joshua and Isadora: A True Tale of Loss and Love in the Holocaust (Hardcover)
This is a true story of the author's grandparents' determination to survive in the face of horrible conditions during World War II and their desperate efforts to hold on to their families, their dignity, their hope for a future. It is a loving retelling of their stories by their grandson against the backdrop of his travels to the same places they had journeyed through, struggling towards freedom and security. This is a beautifully written, absorbing tale of their two journeys, separated by 60 years and extraordinary hardships. Definitely worth reading.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Page-turning adventure, Jun 22 2008
By D. Henck - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Joshua and Isadora: A True Tale of Loss and Love in the Holocaust (Hardcover)
Benanav is a talented writer, turning a family history and personal journey into a page-turning adventure. He helps the reader understand the horror of the era, yet does so without sounding either maudlin or unsympathetic: a delicate balancing act made all the more difficult given the family connections. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book.
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