Painful history but a good choice for readers interested in Anne Frank or Holocaust-era memoirs.
Firsthand account of a Holocaust survivor who knew Anne Frank.
Born into a prosperous, middle-class German Jewish family like the Franks, Pick-Goslar fled to Amsterdam after the Nazis came to power in 1933. Born in 1928, the author was the same age as Anne, and since the families lived in adjacent buildings, they quickly became friends and classmates. In the early chapters, Pick-Goslar recounts the carefree activities of two schoolgirls, but the text is imbued with an increasingly ominous background, capped by the brutal German invasion in May 1940. In July 1942, the Franks disappeared, leaving a message that they had moved to Switzerland. In fact, they had gone into hiding in Otto Frank’s warehouse, where they remained until they were betrayed in August 1944. Pick-Goslar’s family was arrested in June 1943, and they spent six months in a filthy Dutch transit camp before being sent to Bergen-Belsen in Germany. Although not an extermination camp, the conditions were so awful that most prisoners died of starvation or disease after months of suffering. That included the author’s entire extended family except a baby sister under her care. During this time, she encountered Anne, already starving and ill, in a neighboring camp. Liberated in 1945, Pick-Goslar moved to Palestine in 1947, became a nurse, and died in 2022 at the age of 93. Co-author Kraft, a journalist based in Tel Aviv, renders a compelling yet disturbing story. Readers will squirm at the Nazis’ loathsome behavior and feel disheartened to learn that all advanced Western governments (the U.S. included) denounced Nazi atrocities but turned away Jews fleeing Germany except for those who were wealthy and famous. Holland was no exception, classifying Pick-Goslar’s family as “temporary refugees,” with the understanding that they would move on.
Painful history but a good choice for readers interested in Anne Frank or Holocaust-era memoirs.Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9780316564403
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.
A heartfelt memoir from the pop superstar.
Spears grew up with an alcoholic father, an exacting mother, and a fear of disappointing them both. She also displayed a natural talent for singing and dancing and a strong work ethic. Spears is grateful for the adult professionals who helped her get her start, but the same can’t be said of her peers. When she met Justin Timberlake, also a Mouseketeer on the Disney Channel’s updated Mickey Mouse Club, the two formed an instant bond. Spears describes her teenage feelings for Timberlake as “so in love with him it was pathetic,” and she’s clearly angry about the rumors and breakup that followed. This tumultuous period haunted her for years. Out of many candidates for villains of the book, Timberlake included, perhaps the worst are the careless journalists of the late 1990s and early 2000s, who indulged Timberlake while vilifying Spears. The cycle repeated for years, taking its toll on her mental health. Spears gave birth to sons Sean Preston and Jayden James within two years, and she describes the difficulties they all faced living in the spotlight. The author writes passionately about how custody of her boys and visits with them were held over her head, and she recounts how they were used to coerce her to make decisions that weren’t always in her best interest. As many readers know, conservancy followed, and for 13 years, she toured, held a residency in Las Vegas, and performed—all while supposedly unable to take care of herself, an irony not lost on her. Overall, the book is cathartic, though readers who followed her 2021 trial won’t find many revelations, and many of the other newsworthy items have been widely covered in the run-up to the book’s release.
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781668009048
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
What a talent, what a career, what a life, and what a treat to relive it all with this most down-to-earth of demigods.
A gloriously massive memoir from a sui generis star.
When Keith Richards and Bruce Springsteen published 500-page memoirs, that seemed long—but as we learned, they really did have that much to say. Streisand doubles the ante with 1,000 pages. In addition to chronicling her own life, the author offers fascinating lessons on acting, directing, film editing, sound mixing, lighting, and more, as revealed in detailed accounts of the making of each of her projects. As Stephen Sondheim commented about her, “It’s not just the gift, it’s the willingness to take infinite pains.” The pains really pay off. With every phase of her life, from childhood in Brooklyn to her 27-year-romance with current husband, James Brolin, Streisand throws everything she has—including her mother’s scrapbook and her own considerable talent as a writer—into developing the characters, settings, conversations, meals, clothes, and favorite colors and numbers of a passionately lived existence. In the process, she puts her unique stamp on coffee ice cream, egg rolls, dusty rose, pewter gray, the number 24, Donna Karan, Modigliani, and much more. Among the heroes are her father, who died when she was very young but nevertheless became an ongoing inspiration. The villains include her mother, whose coldness and jealousy were just as consistent. An armada of ex-boyfriends, colleagues, and collaborators come to life in a tone that captures the feel of Streisand’s spoken voice by way of Yiddishisms, parenthetical asides, and snappy second thoughts. The end is a little heavy on tributes, but you wouldn’t want to miss the dog cloning, the generous photo section, or this line, delivered in all seriousness: “Looking back, I feel as if I didn't fulfill my potential.”
What a talent, what a career, what a life, and what a treat to relive it all with this most down-to-earth of demigods.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780525429524
Page Count: 992
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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