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This week’s story is from Hold On To the Sun by Michal Govrin, edited by Judith G. Miller, published by The Feminist Press. In this portrait of the artist as a young woman, Michal Govrin, one of Israel’s most important contemporary writers, offers a kaleidoscope of stories and essays. Populated by mysterious and real people, each tale is in some way a search for meaning in a post-Holocaust world. Reminiscent of W.G. Sebald, characters irrationally and humanely find reason for hope in a world that offers little. Essays describe Govrin’s visits to Poland as a young adult, where her mother had survived a death camp. Govrin journeys there after she learns that her mother had not been alone. She lost her first husband and eight-year-old son, Govrin’s half brother, and kept it a secret from her second family for many years. In a multiplicity of voices, Govrin’s haunting stories capture the depths of denial and the exuberance of youth.
