Adding the review of Grady Harp about the book:
Author/historian Helen Wininger Livnat shares first hand knowledge of her life and ancestry and in doing so provides s with one of the more profound and involving books about surviving cataclysmic odds. She was born in Romania, 'the first daughter of a young couple, and the first grandchild in the family. The sounds of war were approaching our area, and happiness turned into panic and fear of the unknown. In October 1941, when I was just sixteen months old, a proclamation ordered all the Jews of the town, healthy, sick, young and old, to gather at the train station and bring with them everything their hands could carry. We were exiled to an area called Transnistria, where death awaited about sixty percent of those arriving. A slow death from starvation, cold, hunger and diseases. The only goal we had there was to survive. After three years of suffering and losing our beloved, we returned to Romania and all we wanted was to get out of the country that did not remember its Jews, and their contribution to the economy, growth, and culture.' And that, fellow readers, is the quality of sincerity and authenticity with which Hel shares her history.
Not only is this a story of WW II and the Holocaust, but as Helen states in her preface, 'In a moment of enlightenment, with only a number of pages that my late father wrote and left me, I went back to the middle of the nineteenth century. I was floating back and forth between historical events and visions I had seen in my mind's eye, story after story I had lived, every character I'd described. I had died and been born countless times, but I never forgot my profound Jewish roots. My father led me to the starting point of my family, somewhere in the nineteenth century in Bessarabia [Russia]. He introduced me to many Jewish people whose fate had been dictated and determined just because they were Jews. Our haters abused us, killed and burned us, but we grew stronger, we never gave up and the proof of that is that I, a descendant of the family that my book revolves around, am writing these words with great pride and with my head held high.'
In order to wholly absorb the path Helen leads us in this boo, each reader must set aside quiet time to appreciate. As Helen summarizes the plot, 'This is the true story about the journey of a Jewish family through Eastern Europe. It begins somewhere in Russia in the mid-19th century, and takes the reader into the events during the two world wars, and their ways of existence during the holocaust. The simple and touching stories are presented from the perspective of a sensitive young boy, fascinated by his surroundings. In a moment of anxiety and fear, the boy is torn from his family, and the journey of his life begins. The story describes four generations that represent the history of Eastern European Jews. The author creates a unique attraction between the book and the reader, by her fluent and vivid language. Historical truths are intertwined with fascinating stories about the power of a violin, and the miracles that occurred during the attempt to survive under impossible conditions in a period where sanity was lost.'
This is a very fine historical novel - and so very much more. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, March 18
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-122373428-34370314_at_list.cornell.edu <bounce-122373428-34370314_at_list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Saraf, Oren
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 6:23 PM
To: 'czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu' <czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu>
Subject: [Cz-L] New book- Waiting for a Miracle: Historical Novel
Dear List members,
Our dear friend Helen Wininger Livnat completed the translation of her book to English, and the book is available in Amazon- "Waiting for a Miracle: Historical Novel":
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079WZSS73/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=2invest-20&linkId=429e184375752934af198f346e856e76
This book tells the story of 100 years of a Jewish Family (Helen's Family) in Bukovina, from the mid-19th century, during the two world wars and their survival in Transnistria.
I read it in one weekend, couldn't put it down!
Oren Saraf
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Received on 2018-03-13 16:15:32