A Time to Speak*, by Helen Lewis (Carroll
& Graf, 1992 [Kindle 2011], 132 pages, $12)
A
Time to Speak is a lovely book about a
difficult subject, full of hope and incredible coincidences.
The Story
Like former Secretary of State Madeline
Albright, Helen Lewis was born and raised in Czechoslovakia. She lived and
breathed dancing and had just been married when Hitler rose to power and the
Nazis came to Prague in early 1939. Her family eventually was sent east, mostly
one by one, but Helen managed to stay with her husband in Theresienstadt.
Then came Auschwitz and more – illness and separation, hunger and cold. Depravation
and always - the reality or the threat of death.
Dance saved Helen by chance
in the death camps and, years later, saved her again, this time in Ireland.
How Lewis manages to escape
and make her way home to begin a slow recovery back to health makes a
breathless story not soon to be forgotten.
The Style
This reviewer has read many
Holocaust memoirs but A Time To Speak, though slim, packs a big
presence in its new details about survival and love, loyalty and luck. Helen Lewis’
writing style is quick and suspenseful though understated.
Why We Read A Time to Speak
As amateur scholars of the Hitler Era, we
attended a one-woman play of this powerful book, adapted by Sam McCready, and
were so entranced that we had to purchase the book itself - Joan McCready’s
understated performance as Helen will live in our hearts and minds for a long
time: the McCready’s were close friends of Helen Lewis which may have had something
to do with the outstanding interpretation of such a memorable work!
*Ecclesiastes 3:7
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