"Continue telling until the stones fall down“
Miranda has grown up with quite a bunch of internalized behaviorisms: ensure you do not bring up your maternal grandparents‘ rage – especially do not try to talk to one of them about the other, do not ...
Miranda has grown up with quite a bunch of internalized behaviorisms: ensure you do not bring up your maternal grandparents‘ rage – especially do not try to talk to one of them about the other, do not try to make them both come to the same place at the same time, since they have not exchanged a word for quite some time (the book has not been given ist title for nothing). And do keep your shoes next to the door at night, consider potential routes out for emergencies, and never, never when you lock up your best friend’s brother to tease him never play music to ensure nobody can hear him. This is what they did with children at the camps when they were killing them.
Miranda is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and the experience still wears down even to the third generation after them, even though she, her parents and her grandmother now live in the United States where she has been born, where her gran used to hold her practice for quite a while. The seemingly sensitive child appears to feel both responsible to tend for her beloved ones and also is curious to find out what had happened to alienate her grandparents so strongly as well is anxious to lessen this alienation. Upon visiting her grandfather, she discovers that both her grandparents actually did buy a house together – and falls in love with the old building immediately.
This book is the story behind all of this, true as it can be as it has been written by the aforementioned granddaughter based upon what she learns, what she finds in written, what her family tells her, based upon memories, sometimes hearsay, personal impression, influenced by aversion and love. The book is full of love, emotion, humourous, caring, aware how difficult it is to remain objective under the given circumstances, insightful, and just brilliant to listen to. It travels the USA, France and Switzerland with some backdrops to Romania, to tone is pensive, full of melancholy and compassion and inherent wit.
It is easy to follow as an audio book, although I slightly miss not having been capable to transcribe more of the author’s wonderful sentences such as „But of course, we all have room in our hearts for infinite measures of love and loss“. chapter 18 Recommendation with solid 5 out of 5 stars