Why a book on the Holocaust or Post Holocaust as author Pearl Goodman describes it?

April 8, 2013 - PRLog -- As Ms Goodman says, writers write because they have a story to tell and Peril: From Jackboots to Jack Benny is her story of three themes that played a major role.

The first is the Post Holocaust story about what it was like being the child of Holocaust survivors and growing up in the shadow of that lurking trauma. The book details many jarring instances demonstrating the impact on the child when she goes through common coming of age circumstances, and the parents react intensely, often with rage, in those mundane moments.

The effect on the child and on that child's emotions is explored. Is it permissible for her to be angry at them when her parents have gone through such tragedy, are the parents too harsh or are their reactions forgivable, are examples of the many emotional quagmires that arise.

All points of view are presented for the reader to decide. The story of her parents is told in a series of flashbacks that increase in length mirroring the way she began to understand more deeply and maturely what was operating behind the scenes of her life growing up in Toronto in the 60s, years after the horrors of the Holocaust.  

The second theme is the story of Toronto, Canada in the 60s with its Anglo Saxon demographic, and how alien it felt to be Jewish, a benign version of Nazi Germany for sure, but an echo nevertheless. It is also the story that can be understood by all children of immigrants who have struggled with cultural barriers.

Finally, she tells the story of the new medium of Television and the fascination she had for the ads, images, and characters, and the yearning she felt to live those lifestyles. Pop culture imagery abounds even to the point of comparing The Final Solution to a successful ad campaign.

As Ms Goodman explains:

"My background in literature, dramatic arts and my work as a psychotherapist served me well. When I was writing, I wanted the book to read as a novel using myself as the main character with suspense, pathos, satire, irony, humour, forshadowing, metaphors etc. As such there are many creative moments in the book that are not solely based on fact. I took to heart the quotation, 'Write what you know' and that’s what I did."

All three themes come together in this book and it is not surprising that reviews have hailed this book as "a thought-provoking memoir", as "engrossing", as a “detailed, deeply honest and extraordinarily sensitive account”, and "a powerfully moving book that deals with the lingering intergenerational effects of the horrific history of the holocaust."

Peril: From Jackboots to Jack Benny will be at the London Book Fair 2013 represented by the Foreword Small Press Collective (booth X125) and is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Chapters/Indigo and in Kindle and Kobo editions.

ISBN 978-0-9878244-6-2,  300 Pages, $21.95 and distributed by Ingram

For more information, visit http://bridgeross.com/peril.html