The Family

July 29, 2013
Frequent newspaper contributor Laskin’s relatives provide ample material for a gripping epic narrative, beginning in 1875 and spanning over a century. This readable and absorbing book looks at the experiences of Jews—in this case all members of Laskin’s family—finding a fresh start in the United States, of those working to form a new country in Palestine, and of those trapped in Nazi-controlled Europe. His American ancestors’ experiences were highlighted by his great-aunt, Itel, who founded the Maidenform Bra Company in 1922. And that quintessential American success story of a hard-working immigrant who makes good contrasts well with the account of her cousin Chaim’s life in Palestine around the same time—he found disillusionment there, rather than a land of milk and honey. The sections dealing with the grim toll that the Holocaust took on the family don’t provide new insights into the Nazis’ inhumanity; the horrors of the time gain more impact when conveyed through the stories of individual lives. Laskin (The Children’s Blizzard) makes the most of the rich array of stories his research unearthed. Agent: Jill Kneerim, Kneerim, Williams, and Bloom Literary Agency.

July 15, 2013
A Jewish writer explores his heritage in a speculative family history that mirrors the triumphs and tragedies of the 20th century. Laskin (The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War, 2010, etc.) stays firmly within his characteristic style of anecdotal guesswork in chronicling the fates of three branches of his family tree. While his journalistic consistency may be a bit dubious, the author knows how to zero in on a good story. Starting with a rumor that Joseph Stalin's enforcer Lazar Kaganovich might be a distant relation, Laskin dives deeply into the lives and times of his relatives, dating back to the late 19th century in Volozhin, Russia. It's after the family's move to Belarus that the narrative gets really interesting. One branch, largely led by Maidenform Bra founder Ida Rosenthal, landed in New York and Americanized everything about themselves, abandoning names, homes and traditions. "Others step off the boat, fill their lungs with the raw unfamiliar air, and get to work. They never look back because they never have a moment to spare or an urge to regret," writes the author. Another couple, Chaim and Sonia, became hard-core Zionist pioneers in the wilds of Palestine. Another entire branch was lost to the Holocaust, a richly imagined tragedy but one that Laskin has largely plucked from history books. Were this fiction, it would read much like the novels of Leon Uris and other spinners of historical sagas, as Laskin ties his relatives to events ranging from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to Black Friday to the establishment of Israel. The telling of the tales and the recollection of history eventually breaks the author's assumptions that his family was all about business. "Now I see how wrong I was," Laskin writes. "History made and broke my family in the 20th century." An ambitious, experimental look at exodus, acclimatization and culture with a cast as diverse as any family photo album.

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September 15, 2013
This interesting and often moving family saga spans a century and a half, and three continents and touches most of the critical historical trends and events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Laskin's great-great-grandfather was a Torah scribe who raised six children in a nineteenth-century shtetl on the fringe of the Russian Empire. Eventually, those siblings and their descendants split along three different paths and destinies, and the recounting of their individual experiences also tells us much about Jewish history. One stream led to the U.S., where family members found great material prosperity. A second stream included those captivated by the ideal of Jewish redemption, and they pursued the Zionist ideal in Palestine, taking an active role in the creation of Israel. The remaining group stayed in Europe and was devastated by the Holocaust. Laskin (The Children's Blizzard, 2004) is a gifted writer who effectively blends family and world history in a deeply felt story filled with the joy and sadness that has characterized Jewish life in this period.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2013

World history via personal history: the family of Laskin's great-great-grandfather Shimon Dov HaKohen split three ways, one branch going to America (and founding the Maidenform Bra Company), another branch going to Palestine, and the final branch remaining in Europe to endure the Holocaust.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013

Laskin (The Children's Blizzard) conveys major events of 20th-century history and the Jewish experience through the individual lives of several generations of his mother's family from Russia. One branch immigrated to America and strove to live the American dream (one member founding the Maidenform Bra Company), one branch immigrated to Palestine to help create a Jewish nation, and one branch remained in Eastern Europe only to be wiped out during the Holocaust. The HaKohen family, which included several generations of Torah scribes, became the Kaganoviches in Russia and the Cohens in America. Through family letters and travel to ancestral homes, Laskin fleshes out the stories he was told (and not told) over the years. For example, his family never mentioned relatives killed in the Holocaust. Laskin's goal, as a storyteller, is to give his family's stories back to them. His compelling narrative brings these individuals to life as we witness their triumphs and tragedies in vivid detail and at times in their own voices. VERDICT Recommended for readers of 20th-century history, the Jewish experience, and family sagas. [See Prepub Alert, 4/29/13.]--Leslie Lewis, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.