Marianna S. (Angeloudi) reviewed on 11/2/2008 + 160 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This was an extremely memorable and well-written Holocaust story from a point of view not often described. Lisa Jura was one of the 10,000 German, Austrian, Polish and other Jewish children sent to England on the Kindertransport, to escape from the onslaught of the Nazi regime and the (at that time) unimagined horrors of World War II that were to come. The children were given lodging at various hostels, and put to work to earn their keep as nannies, maids, and in factories. Lisa Jura had been learning piano during her former life in Vienna, and started secretly using the piano in the hostel when she could. Her talent for piano was discovered, and she was awarded a scholarship to the London Academy of Music, and went on to become a world-renowned concert pianist. The story is told with pathos, humour and charm, by Lisa Jura's daughter, Mona Golabek, also a concert pianist. I usually read Holocaust memoirs at the same time while reading other books, but I can truthfully say, once I started this book, I could not put it down. I highly recommend it.

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