What the critics have said

I want you to know how much I loved Shoshanna's Story.

-Alice Munro, personal letter, June 25, 2006, Read the whole letter

“In this compelling account of the bond between a mother and daughter, Elaine Kalman Naves explores the constituents of identity – language, religion, culture. Yet what emerges most powerfully in Shoshanna’s Story is the shimmering complexity of family love, its weae of devotion and resentment, grief and pride, an the case of this remarkable family, a truly astounding and exemplary courage.”

-Janice Kulyk Keefer

“In a world where the numbers of refugees and immigrants increase daily, Elaine Kalman Naves has managed to convey the utter terror and helplessness so many of them experience. Through her portrayal of her family she has created a history of all who came here burdened with the unbearable stories of survivors…. Her new book … is a braided story that weaves back and forth from 19th-century Sub-Carpathia to modern Montreal, with the dramatic tension and suspense of a great novel. … The treachery of love, war, and the innocence of childish idealism are evoked by a master raconteur. The Hungarian revolution is told from the point of view of the child, who remembers being bathed with icy water between artillery attacks….

“This true story is beyond fiction and greater than mere biography. Kalman Naves has given us an epic, rich in historical scope and people with fascinating characters…. Kalman Naves has rewarded us with a truly complex and courageous heroine…. Shoshanna is a survivor, a warrior and a mother.”

-Anna Fuerstenberg, Montreal Gazette, September 6, 2003

“A thoughtful and fascinating exploration of how people survive the seemingly unsurvivable and go on to forge new lives.”

-Nancy Richler, Globe and Mail, October 25, 2003

“A family history with universal resonance.”

-Edmonton Journal

In her absorbing family memoir, Elaine Kalman Naves explores the complex territory of the mother-daughter relationship. The story, partly set in Hungary against the tumult leading up to the Second World War, follows into exile a Jewish family that has miraculously survived the Holocaust. 

Elizabeth Johnston, Montreal Review of Books, Fall and Winter 2003-2004,  Read the whole review