In this “extraordinary family memoir,”* the National Book Award–winning author of The Future Is History reveals the story of her two grandmothers, who defied Fascism and Communism during a time when tyranny reigned. *The New York Times Book ReviewIn the 1930s, as waves of war and persecution were crashing over Europe, two young Jewish women began separate journeys of survival. Ester Goldberg was … separate journeys of survival. Ester Goldberg was a rebel from Bialystok, Poland, where virtually the entire Jewish community would be sent to Hitler’s concentration camps. Ruzya Solodovnik was a Russian-born intellectual who would become a high-level censor under Stalin’s regime. At war’s end, both women found themselves in Moscow. Over the years each woman had to find her way in a country that aimed to make every citizen a cog in the wheel of murder and repression. One became a hero in her children’s and grandchildren’s eyes; the other became a collaborator. With grace, candor, and meticulous research, Masha Gessen, one of the most trenchant observers of Russia and its history today, peels back the layers of time to reveal her grandmothers’ lives—and to show that neither story is quite what it seems.
Praise for Masha Gessen
“One of the most important activists and journalists Russia has known in a generation.”—David Remnick, The New Yorker
“Masha Gessen is humbly erudite, deftly unconventional, and courageously honest.”—Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny
more
I’ve always been fascinated by stories that revolves around or centered on Hitler, the Holocaust, and the European Theater of WWII. I’ve also been fascinated by memoirs of people who lived during that time. In Gessen’s book I found myself immersed in both loves.
This is a captivating work is both a labor of love and cautionary tale for the rest …
A very informative look at what we could be looking at if the current authoritarian trend takes hold here in the US.
What I didn’t know but was afraid to ask!
This book was an honest look at people in Russia after the war. It shows a truth of the author‘s grandmothers forced to make choices that went against what they believed In order to survive.
Fascinating family history
Interesting but would have liked more story
Like the history of the novel that is included in the women’s lives.
It was disjointed and difficult to follow. I did not feel any connection to the characters.
This is not a riveting book, but it was interesting. I gained a better understanding of life in Soviet Russia.
It gives a good idea of the WW!! years.
I thought it was a excellently researched saga of the author’s two grandmothers who , as Jews, were able to survive the tragic times of World War II. IN Russia and Poland. They did not know from minute to minute what their fate would be in the midst of both a fascist and Communist regime. It fills me with a greater appreciation for being able to …
I am an avid reader, reading several books a week, variety of genres. I did not enjoy the book – made it through ~1/3.
For someone who hadn’t lived through the pre and post WWII era there was a lot of good information about Stalin communism and the position of Soviet Jews. There was more emphasis on historical/political rather than fictional story and as a result although the characters were traced over a long period of time there was never a strong connection …