Jonathan Rosen (1)

"I have always known that writing overtly about the horrors of the Holocaust is beyond my abilities and beyond my ambition and perhaps even beyond what I feel art can accomplish. For me the challenge, as a writer and perhaps even as a person, is how to do justice to the lives and experiences of both my grandmothers; the woman who died at ninety-five surrounded by family members who loved her, and the woman murdered in the forest in Eastern Europe. But perhaps even that is saying too much. Perhaps it is only to do justice to my own experience as the grandchild of those two women. A grandchild of optimistic America and of tragic European experience."

A little book has never convinced me to convert as much as this one...… (mehr)

This book is a wonderful read with plenty of substance. Deborah is naturally strong, positive and spiritual; loves her life as junior rabbi of a NYC Reform temple dealing with challenging situations, accepting people's flaws and hypocrisies.

Henry, as a Holocaust survivor, while managing to live life with his wife and two sons, never stops agonizing about his lost parents and sister, and his aborted childhood. But a stroke stirs up depressing thoughts and memories, and he decides he's had enough.

The two story lines come together, when Deborah meets Henry and worried family in the hospital. Her visits help Henry and give her time to get to know Henry's younger son, Lev. She is impressed by how gentle and sensitive he is with his father while her optimism, beliefs and wit attract him.

A well-paced, solid novel which examines issues of religion, memories and depression balanced with love and humor.… (mehr)