From the day I first met Gidon, though I was nervous about whether I was the right person to write this book, I knew that his story was important. I knew that very few Holocaust survivors are alive to tell their stories and concurrently, dismayingly, I was all too aware that antisemitism was on the rise. Frustratingly, when I pitched my book to the traditional publishing world, I was met with a lot of pushback; how would such a difficult topic "do on the market?" Well, the book is doing very well, actually, if the five-star reviews it is receiving are any indication.
Recently, two reviews stuck out to me. From Goodreads:
The True Adventures of Gidon Lev is a complex, multi-layered work full of detailed historical description, implied warnings for the failure to learn from history, and a promise that from the deepest adversity can spring recovery, growth and the strongest love. But it also asks a worrying question. As Gray says of Lev:
“I suddenly, completely understood why people sometimes do this to Gidon: cry, ask to hug him, take his photo. Survivors are the embodiment, the proof of such things that we cannot imagine. What will happen when none are left?”
From the book's Kirkus page:
"If we are to make the Holocaust more than a particularly gruesome history lesson then Gray has shown the way. Gray is no objective dry historian; she is a committed 'get it out there, scribe. She is a committed writer with a honed gift. A very important, if not landmark book extremely well done."
Both of these reviews underscore my feelings about the project. That it's important, that it matters and is timely and that there is a window of opportunity to reach out to readers all over the world, to teach them not just about the Holocaust and its consequences but about the importance of tolerance and justice today.
January 27th, 2021 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day;
if you have read The True Adventures of Gidon Lev, please be sure to let the world know by leaving a review on Amazon, GoodReads and our Kirkus page and letting your friends and family know about the book. Thank you for helping us to defy expectations, make a difference and get what maybe one of the last books (co)written by a Holocaust survivor out into the wider world, when it's needed most.
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