Leona Tamarkin recounts her ordeal as a Jewish refugee during the First World War and her life as a young immigrant in America after 1920. Tamarkin's narrative rings with determination, will to live, and boldness, even within confining circumstances. First conveyed as a letter from a grandmother to her then fifteen-year-old granddaughter, Lizzie, the memoir offers a story too painful to say out loud but too important to be left unsaid. More than simply a family story, Tamarkin's written words bring immediacy and humanity to distant historical events.

I picked up this book at the thrift shop. What attracted me to it was the cover. Her soft but sad eyes. Inside its pages is a story of growing up in and being displaced by WW1. At a young age she dealed with losing family, losing her home, losing neighbors before ever reaching America. In America she talks about adjusting, family, finding work, falling in love.

Several times I would either wanted to cry or cheer. Her words pulled me right in. It is written as a letter to her granddaugther and so it lacks what many other memoir's have, that diary or journal style to it. I found that not a bad thing at all. The letter style actually suited it beautifully after all and was able to pull me in.

The book was published in 2000. I went ahead and looked up some info. Brest-Litovsk Poland is now Brest, Belarus and the author, Leona Tamarkin passed away in 2005.

I truly feel she passed too soon. Would have loved to have learned more about her life.

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Created Feb 17, 2016 at 8:43pm • Submit your own review...