A Time to Speak*, by Helen Lewis (Carroll & Graf, 1992 [Kindle 2011], 132 pages, $12)
A Time to Speak is a lovely book about a difficult subject, full of hope and incredible coincidences.
The Story
Like former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Helen Lewis was born and raised in Czechoslovakia. She lived and breathed dancing and had just been married when Hitler rose to power and the Nazis came to Prague in early 1939. Her family eventually was sent east, mostly one by one, but Helen managed to stay with her husband in Theresienstadt. Then came Auschwitz and more – illness and separation, hunger and cold. Depravation and always - the reality or the threat of death.
Dance saved Helen by chance in the death camps and, years later, saved her again, this time in Ireland.
How Lewis manages to escape and make her way home to begin a slow recovery back to health makes a breathless story not soon to be forgotten.
The Style
This reviewer has read many Holocaust memoirs but A Time To Speak, though slim, packs a big presence in its new details about survival and love, loyalty and luck. Helen Lewis’ writing style is quick and suspenseful though understated.
Why We Read A Time to Speak
As amateur scholars of the Hitler Era, we attended a one-woman play of this powerful book, adapted by Sam McCready, and were so entranced that we had to purchase the book itself - Joan McCready’s understated performance as Helen will live in our hearts and minds for a long time: the McCready’s were close friends of Helen Lewis which may have had something to do with the outstanding interpretation of such a memorable work!
*Ecclesiastes 3:7
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét