Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

You know that review I’ve mentioned more than once, the one I’ve been putting off because I haven’t had the emotional energy for it?  Well, it’s time.  I finished Antonio Iturbe’s The Librarian of Auschwitz on the 24th of November, but the holidays were already overwhelming me by then, and I was working to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year; the review just got postponed, and postponed again, until–well, here we are.  Much of the intensity of the reading/listening experience has faded, partly with time and partly because I’ve read another novel about WWII and its aftermath since then, but not so much that I can’t tell you honestly how amazing it was.  I don’t read a great deal of fiction about the Holocaust–fiction seems a consistent second choice with so many actual narratives available–but Librarian was based on a true story, and it felt authentic.

It also held me spellbound.

I received a copy for review months ago, but the size had been intimidating me; my current stage in life spares me only so much focus and time.  When I found that it was available on audio I jumped at the chance to listen to it (while skimming my print copy at odd moments to ensure I wasn’t missing anything!), and I found a bonus–an afterward that wasn’t in my uncorrected proof but that made the entire book that much more compelling.  (I’m honestly pondering buying a copy just for that afterward.)  If you have any interest in the Holocaust–if you’re passionate about books and what they make of us–even if you’re just looking for something fascinating to read–do yourself a favor.  Get yourself a copy of this book–audio, print, whatever works for you in the here and now–and join Dita on her journey from Prague, to Terezin, to Auschwitz, to Bergen-Belsen, and back again to Prague and beyond.  Hers is a journey no one should miss.