threeseagrass's review against another edition
4.0
A really beautiful memoir about depression and finding yourself through religion. [a:Alison Pick|291125|Alison Pick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1407264602p2/291125.jpg] writes so beautifully and creatively that you can't help but live along with her, through her depressions, troubles during pregnancy, and journey toward finding herself.
For someone who has never been very religious, I'm always very interested in others' religious journeys, and Alison tells a heart-wrenching tale about her journey toward Judaism and how her family's past has called to her all her life. The history of her family, from their time in Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz to Canada is terrifying and somewhat surreal.
If you enjoy memoirs with a World War Two background, religious focus, and depression underlying it all, this one is for you.
For someone who has never been very religious, I'm always very interested in others' religious journeys, and Alison tells a heart-wrenching tale about her journey toward Judaism and how her family's past has called to her all her life. The history of her family, from their time in Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz to Canada is terrifying and somewhat surreal.
If you enjoy memoirs with a World War Two background, religious focus, and depression underlying it all, this one is for you.
corvingreene's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Miscarriage, and Genocide
Moderate: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
thuglibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Alison Pick grew up in a Christian household but finds out a family secret in her teens. Her Jewish paternal grandparents fled from the Czech Republic at the start of WWII and chose to live as Christians in the U.S. This book is Alison's journey as she *feels* Jewish but she is not recognized as Jewish by the Jewish community. Why? Her mother is not Jewish, so Alison must convert if she wants to be Jewish. Thought provoking look at what we take for granted. Who are we?
annabella82's review against another edition
3.0
OK, here's the thing that always bugs me when reading a biography...I hate the whining or the "woe is me" tales. I always find that they leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
That was my problem with this one. I liked the idea of the author learning about her family history to figure out a little more about why she is the way she is but there were aspects I found unnecessary to the story being told. These things made me dislike the book.
That was my problem with this one. I liked the idea of the author learning about her family history to figure out a little more about why she is the way she is but there were aspects I found unnecessary to the story being told. These things made me dislike the book.
wendoxford's review against another edition
4.0
This book feels as if it is a conversation rather than a memoir. An astonishly open account of Alison's tenacious journey of conversion to Judaism born of a depression of which her family history turns out to be the root. The fact that she was born of paternal Jewish grandparents who managed to escape Czechoslavakia as the Holocaust closed in and sought refuge in Canada hiding in Christianity, makes the journey all the more astonishing.
Although I sometimes thought the telling was somewhat schmaltzy, on reflection it wasn't. It is a coming to terms with who she really is against the backdrop of history, family secrets and the insufferably gruelling search for acknowledgement of her identity alongside her non-Jewish partner.
Although I sometimes thought the telling was somewhat schmaltzy, on reflection it wasn't. It is a coming to terms with who she really is against the backdrop of history, family secrets and the insufferably gruelling search for acknowledgement of her identity alongside her non-Jewish partner.
emilyren's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lilyrich's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
fuck this shit it hit way too hardÂ
melwyk's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent read. A soul-baring, honest story of Pick's search for her Jewish roots. She manages to capture the tiniest personal moments without making the reader feel like a voyeur. And the writing itself is beautiful.
bpag314's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0