Description
Book SynopsisA giant of Holocaust history (one of Yad Vashem's honoured Righteous Among the Nations) and yet so little known.
Trade Review"A remarkable work of research, translation, and recovery that tells the story of an unlikely, long-overlooked heroine."—Ned Stuckey-French,
Fourth Genre"
Epistolophilia is not a typical biography, and Šimaitė was not a typical World War II hero. For readers looking for an unconventional account of the World War II and post-war eras, as well as those interested in women's life writing,
Epistolophilia is a nuanced and compelling work."—
ForeWord Reviews"Sukys draws liberally from thousands of pages of correspondence and numerous diaries to create a portrait of a deeply thoughtful woman trying to make sense of history and her own life by putting it all to paper. Also of Lithuanian descent, Sukys's own meditations on the power of letters and writing make this a powerful testament to the confluence of history and individual lives and passions."—
Publishers Weekly"Sukys is to be commended for providing us with this testament and story of a little known hero, who might otherwise have been overlooked."—Abe Novick,
Baltimore Jewish Times"A startling paradox that while Simaite died at 76 before completing her memoirs, Sukys is able to capture Simaite's story while successfully writing an unexpected memoir of her own."—Meredith Wood Bahuriak,
PLOP! Review"Sukys is to be commended for providing us with this testament and story of a little known hero. . . . The writing is done with care and precision bringing to life a woman who we might have otherwise overlooked."—
Jerusalem Post "A mosaic of Šimaitė’s life,
Epistolophilia enables readers to create a three-dimensional person with the little information available."—Mélanie Grondin,
Montreal Review of Books “An intelligent, humane, and noble book that rescues from obscurity an intelligent, humane, and noble woman. It stands as a testament to the power of reading, writing, compassion, and extraordinary courage.”—David Bezmozgis, author of
The Free World“With this searching, nuanced biography, Julija Šukys introduces the English-speaking world to a genuine heroine of the Holocaust, while at the same time raising vital questions about the role of trauma, poverty, and ill health on women’s literary production.”—Susan Olding, author of
Pathologies: A Life in Essays“This is an important new take on the legacy of the Holocaust. Eloquent and elegantly written, it reads like a Sebald text but with a voice profoundly its own.”—Laura Levitt, professor of Religion, Jewish Studies, and Gender at Temple University
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Place Names
Part One
1. The Woman in the Park
2. Vilnius
3. Correspondence
4. Ona Šimaite's Letters to Marijona Cilvinaite, 19571958
5. Caregiving and Letters
Part Two
6. A Childhood Tale
7. Russian Letters
8. Everyday Writings
Part Three
9. Ghetto
10. Mowszowicz
11. Letters to Kazys Jakubenas, 19411943
12. Destruction of the Ghetto
Part Four
13. Kazys
14. Kazys's Death
15. Alfonsas's Theory
Part Five
16. Catholicism, Sex, and Sin
17. Mothering
Part Six
18. Ludelange
19. Freedom
20. Toulouse
21. Letters to New York
22. La Courtine
Part Seven
23. The Ghetto Library
24. Librarians
25. Writing a Woman's Life
Part Eight
26. Aldute
27. Family Letters
28. Soviet Schizophrenia
29. Death in Vilnius
30. Paris 1968
31. Single and Crazy
Part Nine
32. Cormeilles
33. October
Works Cited
