2 minute read
Untold stories
Marion Molteno’s new series of conversations is with women who have uncovered remarkable life stories, and turned them into books for us all to read
Marion’s memoir, Journeys Without a Map, describes how her novels have been inspired by the lives of those she meets. Now she discusses the art of life-writing with four women whose beautiful reconstruction of earlier lives gives us a unique insight into our collective recent history.
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What is it like to discover diaries and notes left by your parents or others you loved, revealing inner lives that you never knew about?
And how do you turn what you have learnt into a story for others to read?
7pm, 23 September 2021, on Zoom
The Northern Line
The history of a provincial Jewish family
When Judy Simons cleared her late mother’s house, she discovered an old tin box of papers, signposts that led her on a journey into the past. Her resulting book blends memoir and social history in a riveting family saga that uncovers the lies and secrets buried for years, and evokes the struggles and triumphs of early Jewish immigrants in northern England.
7pm, 21 October 2021, on Zoom
The Musical Life
Hedwig Stein, emigrée pianist
Helen Marquard’s search for a piano teacher led to Hedwig Stein who had fled Berlin in 1933 with her Russian Jewish husband, to start again here as concert pianists. Inspiring and vivid, Hedwig shared her history, and ideas on music, art, philosophy, and literature. Years later Helen discovered that Hedwig had written a diary, and determined to bring her remarkable story to others.
The Bamboo Bracelet
A true story
Merilyn Brason’s parents survived four years in Japanese internment camps in the Philippines during the Second World War. Her older sister was born there. A lifetime later Merilyn uncovered her mother’s detailed notes of her experiences, and began to research to learn more. This moving personal story reads like a novel but is a true reconstruction of events, and a tribute to the internees’ extraordinary resilience.
7pm, 9 December 2021, on Zoom
Invisible Ink
A family memoir
Martha Leigh’s parents were not who they seemed to be. Her investigation of secrets buried in her Jewish family’s archive takes the reader all over Europe before, during and after the Second World War. By unravelling the threads of her deeply moving family stories from the tapestry of 20th century history, Martha discovers her own place in the pattern.
Left to right: Judy Simons, Helen Marquard, Merilyn Brason, Martha Leigh
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