Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir

by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, Rita Lurie Narrated by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, Beata Pozniak

Overview

A miraculous lesson in courage and recovery, BENDING TOWARD THE SUN tells the story of a unique family bond forged in the wake of brutal terror.

Weaving together the voices of three generations of women-Rita, her daughter, Leslie, and her granddaughter, Mikaela-the memoir provides powerful and inspiring evidence of the resilience of the human spirit, relevant to every culture in every corner of the world. Unimaginably devastating and incredibly uplifting, this firsthand account of survival and healing offers a poignant message of hope in our own uncertain times.

Rita Lurie was five years old when she fled her home in Poland to hide from the Nazis. From the summer of 1942 to 1944, she and fourteen members of her family shared a nearly silent existence in a cramped, dark attic, subsisting on scraps of food. Young Rita watched helplessly as her young brother and then her mother died by her side. Motherless and stateless, Rita and her surviving family spent the next five years wandering throughout Europe, waiting for a country to accept them.

Decades later, Rita is the matriarch of a close-knit family in California. Yet in addition to love, Rita unknowingly passes to her children feelings of fear, apprehension, and guilt. Her daughter Leslie, an accomplished lawyer, media executive, and philanthropist began probing her mother's childhood to discover how Rita's pain has affected not only Leslie's life and outlook but also that of her children. Their collaboration produced this unforgettable story, which reveals how deeply the Holocaust remains in the hearts and minds of survivors and their descendants.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A captivating memoir that explores a complicated, loving, and enduring mother-daughter bond, and reveals how doubts, hopes, and dreams are handed down from generation to generation. As both a mother and a daughter, I found it deeply touching.” — Arianna Huffington, author, syndicated columnist, and founder of The Huffington Post

“Here is a memoir that takes us through many worlds, through heartache and noble hopes, through the mysteries of family love and toward a beautiful, light filled conclusion. Read Bending Toward the Sun and enrich your life.” — Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Why Faith Matters and Making Loss Matter-Creating Meaning in Difficult Times

“Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating—this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down. ” — Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Founding President, Jewish Life Network; former Chairman of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

“BENDING TOWARD THE SUN is . . . bolstered by writing that is compelling and sensitive, the book transcends the holocaust genre with its multi-generational point of view on the ultimate effect of fear and evil on young minds.” — Dick Wolf, Emmy Award-winning creator and Executive Producer of Law and Order; Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; and Law and Order: Criminal Intent

“[An] affecting memoir. . . . Vivid. . . . Riveting. . . . An amazing story of wartime survival.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The lasting impact of the Holocaust on a survivor and her daughter emerges in this joint account. . . . The voices and experiences expressed are valuable.” — Publishers Weekly

Dick Wolf

BENDING TOWARD THE SUN is . . . bolstered by writing that is compelling and sensitive, the book transcends the holocaust genre with its multi-generational point of view on the ultimate effect of fear and evil on young minds.

Rabbi David Wolpe

Here is a memoir that takes us through many worlds, through heartache and noble hopes, through the mysteries of family love and toward a beautiful, light filled conclusion. Read Bending Toward the Sun and enrich your life.

Arianna Huffington

A captivating memoir that explores a complicated, loving, and enduring mother-daughter bond, and reveals how doubts, hopes, and dreams are handed down from generation to generation. As both a mother and a daughter, I found it deeply touching.

Rabbi Irving Greenberg

Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating—this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down.

Rabbi - Irving Greenberg

"Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating—this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down. "

Rabbi - David Wolpe

"Here is a memoir that takes us through many worlds, through heartache and noble hopes, through the mysteries of family love and toward a beautiful, light filled conclusion. Read BENDING TOWARD THE SUN and enrich your life."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178528730
Publisher:	Big Happy Family
Publication date:	01/15/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos