As a child Miranda suffered with fears that would be inexplicable in most young children but Miranda had grown up with shadowy stories of having to flee in the night and being ready just in case… this is because both her Grandparents, Anna and Armand were Jewish and had been in France at the time of the Second World War. Quite astonishingly Miranda was quite old before she even realised that they had once been married to each other as they didn’t talk to each other at all.
Until she was 14 Miranda was far closer to her Grandmother but then she went to a boarding school near to Armand and got to know the prickly man who was pernickety, fussy and an unlikely companion for a lonely teenager but every now and again a snippet from the past would present itself, often in the form of a book or a painting. One day she finds that there is a house and somehow it still appears to belong to both of them despite a forty plus year silence between them. Miranda’s mother is called upon to persuade Anna to sign a document to allow the building to be sold, but that isn’t going to be an easy task!
As an adult Miranda convinces herself that the separation precipitated by Anna when she left with her two children and her typewriter followed a passionate love affair and was determined to get to the root of the split to prove her theory. Anna was on the surface the more helpful of the two giving over a file of her life, there was just one problem Anna didn’t talk in a linear fashion and she certainly didn’t write in one. The narrative of this memoir was built over years following some careful questioning to nail down the timing of events as the couple met and then got separated by circumstances too awful to contemplate, even the date of their eventual marriage is unknown in the beginning. Miranda has to tread carefully as both Anna and even more so Armand are quick to take offence and she clearly adores both of them so the piecing together of the complex tale takes patience and time.
This is not only a story of this couple with their memories overlaid with the horrors of the time they lived in, the friends that disappeared and even after the war, the coming to terms with all that had gone before particularly as Armand was one of the translators at the Nuremburg Trials. It is also a picture of two elderly people, the present day consists of Miranda trying to look after them both, especially Armand whose prickly nature softens in old age.
It is only to be expected with such a complex task that the author never really gets to the bottom of what happened to cause the rift, but by the end of the book the theory she presents matches the evidence she found on her journey through their lives. Taken at this level the story is a mystery, there is some pleasure to be gained by deciding whether or not you feel that the right conclusion has been drawn. However, be warned this is a book that will arouse your emotions as much because of the unaffected way the tales are told, there is no manipulating of the reader, the events depicted are on the one hand only too easy to imagine, on the other, impossible for those of us for whom it is something we’ve heard about but never, thank goodness, had to experience.
The author’s writing is lyrical, the story flows that despite the many elements which include her own life’s adventures, they never seem irrelevant or padding to the ‘main’ story. Anna and Armand are ever present with the reader able to compare the carefree way Miranda explores the abandoned house in France with the horrors that the couple faced in the years before its purchase.
I thoroughly recommend this memoir to immerse yourself in the reality of those dark days and to get a sense of how history can be passed through the generations. The holocaust wasn’t just an event, the effects last until this day as we recently witnessed on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
I’d like to say thank you to the publishers Text Publishing who allowed me to read a copy of this wonderful memoir in return for my honest opinion.
Sounds like a wonderful read ….one for the list .
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It’s quite stunning the way the past and the present stories are entwined, a personal portrait on one level but one that makes you think about the horrific times that the Jewish people of that generation went through.
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I had seen this book, but I wasn’t sure about it. I am picky about nonfiction. But this story does sound like a good one. Great review.
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It caught my eye but I have to admit that I didn’t expect it to be quite as good as it was.
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Must get to this. An excellent – and timely – review, Cleo!
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Thank you 🙂
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Cleo – Oh, I was hoping you would enjoy this. It certainly sounds like a terrific memoir and a great story of the times. This one will have to go on my wish list.
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I think you will enjoy this, there is so much contained between the pages; there is the realistic unravelling of a mystery with unwilling participants, the wider story of the Jewish population in France and the personal story of Miranda and her aging grandparents.
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Not one for me, I think, but another great review! 🙂
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Thank you, they seem to be getting progressively longer for some unknown reason 🙂
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😆 A common problem! LF and I are always laughing about the fact that our reviews are now novella length…
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I’m so pleased (as the person who brought this to MY attention) that you enjoyed it as much as I did
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It was a great read wasn’t it? I was itching to pick it up once I read your review as memoirs can be difficult to pull off – this author did a fabulous job though and Anna and Armand really came to life and the horrors they lived through were movingly portrayed but subtly so that they hit you sideways… a hit for us both!
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I have been curious about this one….love that cover, too. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Laurel, an unexpected find that I think will stay with me for quite a while.
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This sounds both haunting and beautiful at the same time.
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Oh it is, I have a feeling that I will think about this one for many years to come.
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This does sound interesting…I think I’d want more definitive answers by the end though.
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I was put off reading the description but once I’d read it all somehow it felt less important and at least the author had a go at a conclusion… thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Lovely review, I’m definitely looking this one up! I’m really interested in novels set around that period and as it’s a memoir it makes it so much more powerful.
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