Book Review: The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant

November 28, 2024

About:

The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant is a historical fiction story about Jewish immigrants escaping the European pogroms, and their hardships assimilating in England. Ms. Grant is an award-winning author and journalist.

  • 288 pages
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zando – SJP Lit
  • Language ‏ : English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : 1638931682

Book Review: The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant
My rating for The Story of the Forest4

Buy The Story of the Forest from Amazon.com*
More Books by Linda Grant*

Thoughts:

I didn’t know what to expect from this book, it started as a fairy tale and turned into one of Jewish diaspora. The book also presents a view of World War I which is not told often enough.

At the heart of The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant is a story of survival and identity. This is something that millions of people in the early part of the 20th century struggled with, and many still do.

Incidentally, this book hit a soft sport since much of the story mirrors my family who moved to England and got into the leather business, after World War II. The author captured the story of survival and assimilation while telling a rich story drawing from her family history.

It has always been interesting to me how one event or a moment can leave a lifelong impression on people, just like Mina’s encounter in the forest. This is mostly an individual experience, others involved might not even remember, but I always try to keep it in mind when interacting with others.

Somehow Ms. Grant has managed to explore many themes with diverse characters in a tight narrative. There’s danger, antisemitism, family, history, and of course the power of storytelling, a subject Yuval Noah Harari wrote about in his excellent book Nexus.

This is a lively, thought-provoking and poignant exploration of diaspora and identity from the point of view of strong women. I thought there was no need to weaken the males to make the women appear stronger.

Synopsis:

Mina Mendel, a young girl from Latvia went to gather mushrooms in the forest when she encountered a bunch of men. As it turns out the men are Bolsheviks and are unlike anyone she ever met. This encounter changed Mina’s life and perception and set her on a different trajectory than anyone ever thought.

Mina’s father, reading the writing on the wall in Riga, decides to try to immigrate to America. The family made it as far as Liverpool, where they built a new home.

Buy The Story of the Forest from Amazon.com*
More Books by Linda Grant*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer:I got this book for free
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books

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Wrap Up

The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant

Book Review: The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant

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