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A Holocaust survivor’s daughter offers a powerful memoir. [Gruenberg] grew up hearing her father reminisce about his wonderful childhood in Vienna; it was only in 2003, when she was in her 40s, that her father, then in his 80s and suffering from Parkinson’s disease, began to open up about the murder of his parents during the Holocaust; the disappearance of his sister, Mia; and his own escape from Vienna in 1939 as a teenager. She hadn’t expected this from him because, unlike other survivors who chose not to go back to their native countries, he had visited Vienna many times as a tourist. As such, her book explores the mysterious nature of memory. Her insights into how people process grief are thought-provoking. Apart from accounts of interviews with her father, she recalls looking through material in archives in the United States, Germany, and Austria after his death in 2005. The emotional impact of her prose is heightened by the addition of family photographs, maps, letters, and official documents. The memoir cannot be classified neatly as nonfiction, as Gruenberg offers two parallel narratives: one in her own voice, and the other in the voice of her Aunt Mia – a creative approach to honoring the deceased, catalyzed by the author’s experience of feeling called by her aunt to write down her words. An insightful remembrance and a formidable contribution to Holocaust literature.

– from Kirkus Reviews [read entire review here]