| "With her gifts as a storyteller and as a terrific
writer, Esther Erman has transformed the experiences and tales of her
family into a compelling, moving, life-filled novel. Through the struggles,
joys, and sorrows of one family, she has given us a novel that captures
the experience of European Jewry in the last century. This book is a remarkable
achievement."
--Arthur Kurzweil,
author of From Generation to Generation
"...brings to life the relationship between three
generations of women … This is a story that rings true… This is a novel
that would…be welcome in any library to give insight into the Holocaust and
survivor generation."
-- Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
"Full of rich and often painful Jewish
history,...folklore and...customs. ... Convincing and absorbing...,
this story makes for fascinating reading."
-- Romantic Times Bookclub
|
Just One is based on the lives of the author’s
grandmother, mother, and herself:
From a village in Poland to the streets of America...
From the ashes of a family destroyed to the resurgence of life...
Estera was a pious woman who lived in a small
village in Poland and perished at Treblinka. Her life encompassed
marriage, supporting her family, a divorce (which she chose) and the
ensuing scandal, a great love story in her remarriage, widowhood, and
the tragic loss of children. Of her many loved ones, only one daughter
survived the Holocaust. Estera’s soul cried out in pain and loss. But
then her spirit, summoned back to Earth by the longing of her granddaughter
Esther, began a journey that would transform both her and the child.
Growing up in the alien culture of America,
the child came to accept her grandmother’s otherworldly appearances
and her meddling -- but always felt something missing. Only as she learned
the full scope of her grandmother’s life from her own mother’s stories
-- preserving memories and linking the generations -- did she find the
strength to claim her own identity and move on to the future.
read the prologue
& first chapter
The author is the "Esther" of Just One, a novelized telling of her grandmother’s life, compiled from stories her mother told over many years. Born in Germany soon after her parents’ liberation from the World War II death camps, Esther is herself now a grandmother.