As a young girl Brooke Randel knew little about the Holocaust-just that it was a catastrophe in which millions were murdered, and that her grandma Golda Indig barely escaped that fate. But her Bubbie never spoke about what happened, and the two spent most of their time together making pleasant memories: baking crescent roll cookies, playing gin rummy, and watching Baywatch. Until an unexpected phone call when Golda said, out of the blue: "You should write about my life. What happened in the war."
What results is a fascinating memoir—about one woman's harrowing survival, and another's struggle to excavate the story from under the sands of time, and her grandma's illiteracy. Chronicling the darkness of the past and the difficult (and occasionally comic) challenges of bringing it to life in a sunny Florida condo, this book offers an insightful look into the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren,
and the impossible pull of both silence and remembrance.
Industry Reviews
"Randel puts her illiterate grandmother's recollections of surviving the Holocaust on the page in this powerful debut. By turns horrific and surprisingly sweet, this will linger in readers’ minds."
- Publishers Weekly
"An emotionally resonant and compelling debut."
— Newpages.com
"This concise, touching memoir bears witness to a whole remarkable life as well as the bond between grandmother and granddaughter that emerged as one generation's history was entrusted to another."
— Shelf Awareness
"An artfully composed and poignant intergenerational memoir, Also Here explores the remarkable tenacity of Brooke Randel's grandmother, Golda Indig—who not only survived Auschwitz but also endured the Holocaust's lasting and complicated aftermath. This inspiring book will help readers understand the reasons that such stories need to be told and retold, both for the sake of the teller and the listeners alike."
— Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Cafe and Third Ear
"Brooke honors her grandmother’s request to tell her story of survival in a beautiful and loving way, all while sharing with readers the very important background story of her own journey. Also Here bears witness to the Holocaust and the third generation's efforts to understand it in remarkably important ways."
— Elizabeth Rynecki, author and documentary filmmaker of Chasing Portraits: A Great-Granddaughter’s Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy
"In Also Here, Brooke Randel has done what many of us children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors seek to do: capture fading memories, reconstruct precious histories and document essential truths before they vanish forever. Randel has done so wisely, sensitively, poetically and honestly—a welcome achievement."
— Howard Reich, Emmy-winning author of The Art of Inventing Hope: Intimate Conversations with Elie Wiesel and Prisoner of Her Past: A Son’s Memoir
