Growing up, Miranda knew her grandmother and her grandfather but who would have thought they went together? She never saw them together. They never spoke of one another. They were as different as apples and oranges, or prickly pears. He was always the distant, absent one who was almost frightening to her.
Her grandparents survived World War II seeking refuge from Nazi France in refugee camps in Switzerland. What they couldn't survive was whatever happened throughout the Nuremburg trials that destroyed their relationship. Five years after the war, Miranda's grandmother packed her children and her typewriter and left. Both kept the secret of what came between them for the rest of their lives.
Miranda was determined to put the pieces of their puzzle together so put her own life on hold to move to their stone house in France. What she finds is a home in ruins and clues that she must put together to discover what her grandparent's won't say. Throughout the process, she figures out not only who her grandparents are but who she is, finding a home and love where she never would have looked.
Were I the librarian cataloging this book, I think I would be hard pressed whether to catalogue it as a biography or autobiography since I think it is both. The author, Miranda Richmond Mouillot, focuses much of her writing on her grandparents but her own self discovery and story are evident as well. Her writing style is easy to follow and clear.
The first thing that caught my eye when I opened up the box the book arrived in was the paper it is printed on. The edges opposite the binding are somewhat jagged and not completely uniform in size making it appear as something old. I loved it that touch. I also enjoyed the author's notes at the end. I was saddened that her grandfather was too senile to read her writing even if she didn't seem to be disappointed. I also loved learning that her grandmother never attempted to keep her from her grandfather but instead created opportunity for Miranda to know him and, hopefully, help him learn to love again. As a lover of biographies and history, I suspect this volume will be passed on to my WWII loving daughter to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to write a positive one.
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