REVIEW: My favorite part of this book was the
postscript. The author’s reflections and
final conclusions were very moving. I
also learned a lot from this book about the effects of the Holocaust on the
Jewish people then and now as well as the aging process in general and the
relationship between grandparent and grandchild. It made me think differently about one’s
heritage and how it forms you as a child and adult. But did I enjoy the book? That
is a difficult question. It was tough at
times to read and also at times I got bogged down in Miranda’s story and the
house in Alba. I wanted to know the
reason for the fifty-year silence and so I kept going. In the end I am very glad I read the book
and I keep thinking about it. So I will recommend
it to others, particularly book groups.
It will lead to a very interesting and insightful discussion. I received a complimentary copy of the book
in exchange for this review.
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People
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1937-1946
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Current
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Armand Jacoubovitch – interpreter at Nuremburg Trials
Anna Munster - doctor
Alma – Anna’s sister
Erna – Austrian refugee, escaped with Armand and Anna
Madame Flamand
Dr. Joseph Angirany – Supervisor at sanatorium in Hauteville
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Miranda – granddaughter and author
Julian – husband
Estelle Anna - daughter
Robert Richmond and Kathleen Mavournin – father and stepmother
Ileana Grams-Moog and Robert Moog (Abah) – mother and stepfather
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For discussion:
NOTE – Page numbers are from the paperback edition.
1. Miranda wrote about how her grandmother was planning her life. Do you really think so or was that just how
things played out?
2. What was the significance of the dish from Aubette? Why do you think Anna kept it for so long?
3. On page 209 the author wrote about how Armand and Anna’s paths differed
once they were separated and she made the point that they both had positive and
negative aspects of their lives that they could dwell on. She wrote, “If their fortunes differed, it
was likely because my grandmother had taken her stubborn high spirits with her
when they parted ways.” How much impact
does your positive or negative view of the world have on your life?
4. How did you think the author was subconsciously affected by her
family’s and her nationality’s past history?
Is that possible if no one in the family discussed it with her?
5. What do you think will happen to the author’s daughter, Estella? Will she have the same experiences?
6. What was the effect of the Nuremburg Trials on Armand? Could he have handled them any
differently? Do you think it was fair
to ask him to perform that task?
7. Did your idea of Armand change as you read the book and understood what
he had done at Nuremburg?
8. Why do you think Armand and Anna never spoke but never divorced? On page 211 the author wrote, “Maybe that’s
why they couldn’t let go of each other: they each held within themselves the
memory of who the other person was before the war made them remarkable in ways
they had not chosen.”
*Also consider the following:
>Page 258 regarding the effect of the trials: “My grandfather’s personality could not withstand it. He hardened around that knowledge, and his hardness cut my grandmother to the quick.”
>Page 259: She could love a man with whom she had been through so much, but she could not let him drag her down into an existence devoted to remembering."
9. Discuss your reading experience.
Did you like the book? Would you
have liked it to move differently? Was
the ending and explanation of Armand and Anna worth the time it took you to get
there? Did you learn anything?
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociaiton.com and barnesandnoble.com. Click on the upper right link.
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