My Amazon and Goodreads review of Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story by Bess Kalb (Rating 5) – Affectionate and Affecting. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story by Bess Kalb celebrates the relationship between four generations of women in a Jewish family, beginning when the great-grandmother arrives alone in America as a twelve-year-old, fleeing Russian pogroms. Although all the generations are represented, the book focuses on the bond between the assertive, wise-cracking grandmother Bobby and the worshipful granddaughter Bessie, who wrote this affectionate and affecting memoir. A writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admired Kalb’s uncanny ear for her grandmother’s distinctive voice as she introduces readers to a loving, if flawed character. Bobby simultaneously encourages and dictates, praises and shames, domineers and (less often) caves. I might have wished for a more probing portrait, one that examined Bobby’s shortcomings, especially as a mother, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun. Nor, since the premise is that Kalb is channeling Bobby from the grave, and Bobby is not a self-critical person, would that be plausible. In troubled times, a memoir that is pure love is a welcome respite and a delightful read.
