Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust: A Mother-Daughter Journey to Reclaim the Past

Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Fern Chapman
Review: This book is easy to read but difficult to put down. It is also historically compelling yet has the ability to slap the reader with emotion. It is a story about the healing of two generations, a mother and daughter, during a trip back to memories that were buried deeply in the mother's mind. By returning to Germany, the mother is finally able to begin to heal, and the daughter is able to begin to understand a mother she knew only superficially. This author has bravely shared with us an unforgettable story.

Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Masterpiece
Review: This book knocked me out! The tale it describes is almost ordinary, involving people we know and might live next door to. And it is told smoothly, flawlessly by Chapman, a journalist. But the story adds up to an emotional roller-coaster, ending with a confrontation between our friends next door and the greatest brutalities of 20th Century history. With tears in your eyes, you are amazed to find out -- our friends win! While the book centers on one woman's search for the truth about her mother, it is surely to be gripping and ultimately joyful for anyone with a heart.

Rating:
Summary: It will touch your mind, your heart and your spirit.
Review: This is a beatiful memoir of a mother and daughter who not only reclaim the past, but reclaim each other. Fern Schumer Chapman opens her soul and allows us to join them on their private journey to Germany where her mother's hidden past has put a rift in their present day relationship. By returning to her homeland, and upon seeing her former classmates, Edith delcares that she "paid a terrible price for a better life." I felt the true emotions of forgiveness and reconciliation they both shared. You will feel that you are on this journey with them, and not merely a casual reader. This is a captivating book to be shared and enjoyed by anyone who is a mother or daughter.

Rating:
Summary: It will touch your mind, your heart and your spirit.
Review: This is a beatiful memoir of a mother and daughter who not only reclaim the past, but reclaim each other. Fern Schumer Chapman opens her soul and allows us to join them on their private journey to Germany where her mother's hidden past has put a rift in their present day relationship. By returning to her homeland, and upon seeing her former classmates, Edith delcares that she "paid a terrible price for a better life." I felt the true emotions of forgiveness and reconciliation they both shared. You will feel that you are on this journey with them, and not merely a casual reader. This is a captivating book to be shared and enjoyed by anyone who is a mother or daughter.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone must read this book
Review: This is a book you will not be able to put down until the very end. Not only is the story extremely gripping, but Fern's use of language is exquisite. Time after time I found myself marveling at the combinations of words she chose to describe things, and their chilling effect on me. She is a truly gifted writer. Each page forces you to continue to the next page, like you're being pulled by a magnet; the end of each chapter leaves you desperate to continue in order to learn the answer to the little mystery she has planted there. "What did he mean by that??" "What did this friend know that she isn't revealing yet?" "How did she cope with that?" While I have heard many stories over the years of Holocaust survival, I kept being awestruck that this actually happened to a very real person, and tried to fathom how such episodes could have occurred and must have felt...Add to that the element of the mending of the mother-daughter relationship, and you have a book that everyone simply must read. I am telling everybody I know to buy and read this book, and then tell everyone they know to do the same.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone must read this book
Review: This is a book you will not be able to put down until the very end. Not only is the story extremely gripping, but Fern's use of language is exquisite. Time after time I found myself marveling at the combinations of words she chose to describe things, and their chilling effect on me. She is a truly gifted writer. Each page forces you to continue to the next page, like you're being pulled by a magnet; the end of each chapter leaves you desperate to continue in order to learn the answer to the little mystery she has planted there. "What did he mean by that??" "What did this friend know that she isn't revealing yet?" "How did she cope with that?" While I have heard many stories over the years of Holocaust survival, I kept being awestruck that this actually happened to a very real person, and tried to fathom how such episodes could have occurred and must have felt...Add to that the element of the mending of the mother-daughter relationship, and you have a book that everyone simply must read. I am telling everybody I know to buy and read this book, and then tell everyone they know to do the same.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book!
Review: This is such an incredible story - about the relationship of a mother and daughter, about escapees from the Holocaust, about family identity, about coming to terms with life in the family situation you find yourself. The author has such a compelling writing style. This would be an excellent book for book groups to discuss and for high school students to read and discuss. The author's web site includes study guides and questions. Once you start reading, you don't want to put the book down. When you finish, you wish for more information and more of the author's beautiful writing. Read it - you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book!
Review: This is such an incredible story - about the relationship of a mother and daughter, about escapees from the Holocaust, about family identity, about coming to terms with life in the family situation you find yourself. The author has such a compelling writing style. This would be an excellent book for book groups to discuss and for high school students to read and discuss. The author's web site includes study guides and questions. Once you start reading, you don't want to put the book down. When you finish, you wish for more information and more of the author's beautiful writing. Read it - you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: An Unforgettable MUST Read
Review: This riveting account of a daughter and mother's journey to the past to make sense of the present and to give meaning and substance and relevance and depth to the future is a must read. No matter your age, your family postion (mother, daugher, father, son), your geneology, your religion, your heritage... no matter... this elequently written journey will cause you to wonder and weep. This account will enlarge your heart and mind to the travisites of the Holocaust and the war, and how it affected neighbors, families, workers and communities. It takes a war and makes it a reality despite distance and time. Thank you Fran Schmer Chapman for breaking and healing my heart.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss This Amazing Journey!
Review: This unusual, beautiful book was absolutely fascinating to read, and impossible to put down. What really set this book apart for me was how often I was completely surprised, horrified and then saddened by the wreckage left by this war. The mother-daughter visit to Germany, from where Edith was sent during the Holocaust, never proceeds as expected. The local newspaper heralds her return with the headline, "The Jew Edith Westerfeld Visits Stockstadt." I found myself checking and rechecking the dates of the visit (1990). Equally amazing was the gradual revelation that Edith, whose Nazi-hatred seemed lukewarm at times, had never reconciled herself to her parents sending her away. Her escape simultaneously freed her and imprisoned her in a 12-year old's mindset. Chapman doesn't put a foot wrong in this book. She provides a deftly -crafted window into mother-daughter relationships. It is an important book for those wishing to understand more about the holocaust and its effect on generations. It is truly an incredible journey.