War and peace: History, Herstory, My story
War and peace: History, Herstory, My story
Historical, Jewish, Personal memoirs
Thread of Life is a portrait of the twentieth century - its times of war and peace - seen through the lives of three generations of Jewish women. At its heart are Dora, a romantic and tragic figure, a concert pianist born in Riga, who lived in St Petersburg and was killed in the Riga Holocaust; her daughter, Genia, born in 1915 in St Petersburg, who lived in many places around the world before dying in England at the age of 102; and, in their different threads and versions of the truth, their legacy to author Jennifer Kavanagh, who shares her moments of discovery while addressing themes of Russia, Jewishness, motherhood, music, home, and language, as well as the vagaries of memory.
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What an perfect theme 'Threads' is for this book! It is exactly that, a series of lovingly-woven strands that cannot now make up a complete pattern. Jennifer braids an entrancing yet incomplete story of discoveries about her ancestry where the holes in the narrative often speak louder than words. This book reminded me so much of the Jewish mystical teaching about the Pargod, the curtain which conceals the Throne of God and which is made up from the threads of hundreds of millions of lives. It glows with divine light and contains everything that has existed and everything that ever will exist. Every single being is a thread in the Pargod and every single thread forms a vital part of the great cosmic pattern. One day, in the Pargod, we will all be able to find those missing connection points that will help us to say, ‘Ah, now I understand!’ I hope to hear more from Dora, Genia and their family there myself someday. ~ Rev Maggy Whitehouse
I started reading your book yesterday morning and finished it this afternoon! I found it fascinating. It is a fine work… The book is rich in social observation. I shall long cherish your reflections on memory and history. ~ Harvey Gillman, author of A Light that is Shining, A Minority of One, Epiphanies
Sober and sobering, Jennifer Kavanagh’s Thread of Life is a thoughtful, serious work of remembrance. The memoir’s canvas is large, embracing multiple themes - music, Jewishness, mothers, home and place - as well as historical context both micro and macro. A widely-researched work, it considers family fortunes, some tragic, with devotion and also detachment. ~ Elsbeth Lindner, former CEO of The Women’s Press, and author of The Meeting
I have always been convinced that memoirs, true stories are more fascinating and enthralling than fiction books. The story of two ladies, mother and daughter, their lives in Russia, Latvia, Switzerland, Egypt and England in 20th century absorbed me into this page-turner brilliantly written by Jennifer Kavanagh, their granddaughter and daughter respectively. I could not stop from following the threads of many lives until I got to the last page of the book and exclaimed: спасибо [thank you], — it is a fascinating book. I regret I could not listen to that lullaby in Russian that Dora had sung to Genia. ~ Sergei Nikitin, author of Friends and Comrades
