A candid and compelling multigenerational account that honors Holocaust survivors.
A memoir examines the trials and triumphs of a family of Holocaust survivors.
Born in Poland in 1936, Fryd was the only child of Jewish parents who ran a sporting goods, bicycle, and radio shop before war came and the family had to move to the Wolomin ghetto in 1939. The author explores the time the family suffered in the ghetto and the ensuing years spent in hiding in the root cellar on the Pashnick family’s farm. But the bulk of his memoir follows the Fryd family’s experiences after World War II. Rather than a story about the Holocaust, it is a survivors’ account. The author explains that he decided to celebrate survival “because each Jew who survived the Holocaust represented a victory over the Haman of our generation.” The postwar parts of the book are the most substantial, tracking the family’s activities in Poland, Paris, and eventually the United States. But the hero of the story is Fryd’s remarkable mother. For all her faults, she was the consummate survivor: the one who outsmarted the Nazis to smuggle items into the ghetto as well as a businesswoman who ran a handbag factory out of a Paris apartment. The author’s frank memoir is a testament to his mother’s bravery, presenting a complex account that takes the family right up to 1961, after the Fryds settled in America and embraced new lives. Though sometimes the methods employed by the author’s mother were questionable—for instance, she and her husband were once arrested for their involvement in the black market—readers will find this an engrossing and immersive family story with rich historical details. The book raises important questions about the lengths people will go to—not only to survive, but also to thrive in the face of horrific adversities.
A candid and compelling multigenerational account that honors Holocaust survivors.Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 979-8988665304
Page Count: 194
Publisher: Story Sanctum Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.
The third volume in the Elephant Whisperer series.
In this follow-up to An Elephant in My Kitchen, Malby-Anthony continues her loving portrait of the Thula Thula wildlife reserve, which she co-founded in 1998 with her late husband, South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony, who published the first book in the series, The Elephant Whisperer, in 2009. Following his death in 2012, Malby-Anthony sought to honor his legacy by continuing his vision “to create a massive conservancy in Zululand, incorporating our land and other small farms and community land into one great big game park.” At the same time, the elephants gave her “a sense of purpose and direction.” In the Zulu language, thula means quiet, and though the author consistently seeks to provide that calm to her charges, peace and tranquility are not always easy to come by at Thula Thula. In this installment, Malby-Anthony discusses many of the challenges faced by her and her staff, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. These included an aggressive, 2-ton rhino named Thabo; the profound loss felt by all upon the death of their elephant matriarch, Frankie; difficulty obtaining permits and the related risk of having to relocate or cull some of their animals; the fear of looting and fire due to civil unrest in the region; and the ongoing and potentially deadly struggles with poachers. Throughout, the author also shares many warm, lighthearted moments, demonstrating the deep bond felt among the humans and animals at the reserve and the powerful effects of the kindness of strangers. “We are all working in unity for the greater good, for the betterment of Thula Thula and all our wildlife….We are humbled by the generosity and love, both from our guests and friends, and from strangers all around the world,” writes the author. “People’s open-hearted support kept us alive in the darkest times.”
A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284259
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.
An author’s trip to Venice takes a distinctly Borgesian turn.
In November 2020, soccer club Venizia F.C. offered Nigerian American author Madu a writing residency as part of its plan “to turn the team into a global entity of fashion, culture, and sports.” Flying to Venice for the fellowship, he felt guilty about leaving his immigrant parents, who were shocked to learn upon moving to the U.S. years earlier that their Nigerian teaching certifications were invalid, forcing his father to work as a stocking clerk at Rite Aid to support the family. Madu’s experiences in Venice are incidental to what is primarily a story about his family, especially his strained relationship with his father, who was disappointed with many of his son’s choices. Unfortunately, the author’s seeming disinterest in Venice renders much of the narrative colorless. He says the trip across the Ponte della Libertà bridge was “magical,” but nothing he describes—the “endless water on both sides,” the nearby seagulls—is particularly remarkable. Little in the text conveys a sense of place or the unique character of his surroundings. Madu is at his best when he focuses on family dynamics and his observations that, in the largely deserted city, “I was one of the few Black people around.” He cites Borges, giving special note to the author’s “The House of Asterion,” in which the minotaur “explains his situation as a creature and as a creature within the labyrinth” of multiple mirrors. This notion leads to the Borgesian turn in the book’s second half, when, in an extended sequence, Madu imagines himself transformed into a minotaur, with “the head of a bull” and his body “larger, thicker, powerful but also cumbersome.” It’s an engaging passage, although stylistically out of keeping with much of what has come before.
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781953368669
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Belt Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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