Description
Book SynopsisDiscovers that the hidden lives of her ancestors reveal as much about the present as they do about the past
Trade Review"[What They Saved is] an unusual, intellectual perspective on an often-told story."-Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews "[Miller] writes thoughtfully about her efforts to piece together a family's story of dislocation, success, and broken links, and of how, in the process, Miller reconnected with Jewish history and traditions."-Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly "Miller's suspension of the expectation of closure-her acceptance of the condition of remembering and of writing as forever incomplete-also draws her memoir deeply into the emotional experience of change that shaped modernity for Jews all over the world. And it confirms the importance of personal narrative, perhaps modernity's most recognizable voice, in framing and accepting the losses and the uncertainties of that experience."-Joanne Jacobson, Jewish Daily Forward -- Joanne Jacobson Jewish Daily Forward "What They Saved can be approached as an illuminating and instructive example of how to conduct a genealogical investigation. But it is also a rich and accomplished family chronicle, full of fascinating incidents and turbulent emotions. Above all, it is a searing work of self-exploration, artful and eloquent in the telling but heartbreaking in its candor."-Jonathan Kirsch, JewishJournal.com -- Jonathan Kirsch JewishJournal.com "This marvelous memoir pinpoints the elusive phenomenon whereby memories get through to our consciousness and how they ultimately influence our lives. Capturing moments of transformation is what happens over and over in an adept memoir like What They Saved."-Judy Bolton-Fasman, Jerusalem Post -- Judy Bolton-Fasman Jerusalem Post
Table of ContentsPart 1. How I Found My Family in a Drawer
1. The Heiress
2. Kipnis in Memphis
3. The Report Card
4. The Photograph from Kishinev
5. The Nudnik and the Boss
6. Family Trees
7. Suicide in Argentina
8. Wolf and Virgin
Part 2. Saving the Name
9. The Mayor of South Tucson
10. The Lost Scrapbook
11. Distant Cousins
Part 3. Memoirs of a Wondering Jew
12. My Kishinev Pogrom
13. The Silverware from Russia
14. My Grandmother's Dunams
15. Family Hair Looms
16. Return to Kishinev
17. The Order Book
Acknowledgments
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