“Fascinating . . . A tragic saga, but at the same time it often reads like a thriller filled with acts of extraordinary courage, descriptions of dangerous journeys and a series of secret identities.”—Chicago Tribune“To this day, I don’t even know what my mother’s real name is.”Helen Fremont was raised as a Roman Catholic. It wasn’t until she was an adult, practicing law in Boston, that she … adult, practicing law in Boston, that she discovered her parents were Jewish—Holocaust survivors living invented lives. Not even their names were their own. In this powerful memoir, Helen Fremont delves into the secrets that held her family in a bond of silence for more than four decades, recounting with heartbreaking clarity a remarkable tale of survival, as vivid as fiction but with the resonance of truth.
Driven to uncover their roots, Fremont and her sister pieced together an astonishing story: of Siberian Gulags and Italian royalty, of concentration camps and buried lives. After Long Silence is about the devastating price of hiding the truth; about families; about the steps we take, foolish or wise, to protect ourselves and our loved ones. No one who reads this book can be unmoved, or fail to understand the seductive, damaging power of secrets.
Praise for After Long Silence
“Poignant . . . affecting . . . part detective story, part literary memoir, part imagined past.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Riveting . . . painfully authentic . . . a poignant memoir, a labor of love for the parents she never really knew.”—The Boston Globe
“Mesmerizing . . . Fremont has accomplished something that seems close to impossible. She has made a fresh and worthy contribution to the vast literature of the Holocaust.”—The Washington Post Book World
more
Tragic time of life for the jewish people and many hid the secrets of that life. This is a look at several people from their first hand experience and how their children uncovered their secret pasts. Almost too much to bear. Very well written and very candid.
Probably the best book I’ve read regarding the organic torture of remembering. PTSD in such a horrific form in which the brain buried all memory to a life. Maybe it is better to forget. However, for the upcoming generation, our need to celebrate survival regardless of cost, is engrained in our very being. It becomes who we are, our strength, our …
Very interesting and well written book
This true experience Helen had with her parents to find out why they remained silent about their lives was overwhelmingly tragic. It is eye opening on what both of her parents endured during their early years. Everyone should read this book so they will know what happen to the Jewish people during the war. Her parents were lucky to survive!
Fascinating story of a family’s unraveling of their true identity and roots. What effect did it have on the parents to relive their buried past and what did it mean to the children to discover the long hidden truths.
It left me wanting more. However, life is rarely able to be tied up into a bow. Emotions are complex, messy and memories are based solely on the one remembering.
I loved this book, so very interesting as well as educational. The only negative thing I have to say is that were quite a few errors (typos & punctuation) in the Kindle edition.
I have read so many books about this time period and this book was so very interesting and different from all the other books! It’s hard to say I really enjoyed the book about this terrible time period but I did! The characters took totally different steps than anyone I ever read about and were such different and wonderful people! I wish I …
I have started reading stories about the hallocaust recently. They are so sad and horrible. I can’t believe what people do to others. It is stunning. Another good book of this type is “Once We Were Brothers”. Man’s inhumanity to man is impossible to believe. Even when you know it is true.
I had read the blurb for this, and it sounded interesting. It turned out to be something I couldn’t put down. The way the author told the sequence of events from the past was so interesting, and while I realize this make it slightly fiction, it was still really well done!
When I began reading this, I was haunted by the horrors her family had endured. It was heartbreaking … but then it became apparent to me that her parents were right, she was spoiled and self centered beyond belief. How any child would betray her parents’ wishes to let their past remain behind because of her own selfish needs is beyond my …
One would never otherwise understand and appreciate the extent of bravery that drove these people to endure and survive the depravity of the Third Reich. The tragedy visited on these people crosses generational lines and continues long after the cumulative trauma of near annihilation by forces of the state.
Thought it was a different slant on how the Holicaust effecting not only the survivals, but also the next generation.
In the beginning it was very interesting and then it got very boring.
I found the history and the experiences of this family to be very enlightening.
I highly recommend if you are a fan of true stories about WWII.
HISTORICAL NOVEL ABOUT WWII AND THE NAZIS. WE MUST NEVER FORGET.
It makes you think about your heritage .
Thoroughly enjoyed this book
This was a new take on the holocaust for me. I found it moving.