Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
Author: annsepstein@att.net
Ann S. Epstein is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, memoirs, and essays.
“Wearing backpacks and low shoes, we escaped Italy for Switzerland at dusk. We plodded single file up a path that got steeper and steeper. After 12 hours, a great weariness descended on me. ‘Not another inch!’ I screamed. My father slapped my face. I began to cry, but gradually quieted, pulled myself together, and followed along like a good girl.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
To escape Italy, Jews took a perilous path through the Alps to Switzerland
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Rating 5) – A Winning Four-Point Shot.Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano begins and ends with William Waters, an emotionally blocked basketball player, but the book revolves around the four Padavano sisters, whose family he joins through marriage. The women compare themselves to the March girls in Little Women; they vie for the plum roles and sidestep that of the doomed Beth. One of the many skills in Napolitano’s writing is making readers wonder if, when, and who a Beth equivalent will emerge. The narrative is told from multiple points of view, primarily those of William and the two older sisters (Julia and Sylvia), with later chapters also featuring William and Julia’s daughter Alice. The characters are intricately and distinctively drawn, as is the family solidarity that is greater than the sum of their parts. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Napolitano’s talent for allowing readers to see events and the choices they make from multiple perspectives, without passing judgment. She renders a panoply of emotions: joy and grief, emptiness and fulfillment, courage and fear, desire and deadness. The novel shines with love. This capacious book houses a large family with room for more members, readers included.
A book that affirms the life-giving power of love
Why writers read: “A key part of writing is to read good writing, to see how others have done it.” – Carl Phillips
American news outlets didn’t take Hitler seriously at first, lampooning him as a fool and the “Vegetarian Superman,” while at the same time quoting him as blaming Jews for Germany’s defeat in WWI and current debts. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
U.S. press depicted Hitler as a fool
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins
“When a group went to the gas chamber, there were occasionally extra rations. I actually looked forward to this. Can you imagine waiting for people to die so you can get a one-inch piece of rotten potato better fit for pigs than humans? You really became an animal there. I was terribly ashamed, and still am.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
A trip to the gas chamber for some meant extra rations for others
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
“Our family sailed on the St. Louis, bound for Cuba. When Cuba and the U.S. refused the ship entry, England, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium agreed to accept its passengers. We went to the Netherlands, where my father had relatives. In July 1939, I left on one of the last Kindertransports to England. The rest of my family went to the gas chamber.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
A quarter of the St. Louis passengers denied entry to the U.S. died in the Holocaust
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
“Josef Mengele was one of 20 SS physicians who worked on the selection ramp. He pointed at people as if to say, ‘Go to the left, go burn a little bit.’ One day, he befriended a Roma boy and dressed him like his own son in a Nazi uniform, the next day he threw the boy into the gas chamber. That’s the kind of monster Mengele was.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
Joseph Mengele, the monster Nazi physician
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
The U.S. press said they couldn’t see what was coming, yet TIME magazine quoted the Nazi Minister of Propaganda when he blamed Germany’s economic woes on the Jews. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
Americans feigned ignorance, but knew what was coming
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins
“Like most death camp survivors, my father quickly discovered that no one, even those closest to him, wanted to hear about his wartime experiences. Everyone was too busy putting their own lives together.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
After the war, people closed their ears to survivors’ stories
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Hope for the Worst by Kate Brandt (Rating 5) – A Courageous Search for the Meaning of Being. Ellie Adkins, the young protagonist of Hope for the Worst by Kate Brandt, is a seeker whose life has fallen apart. She grieves over a parental divorce for which she feels responsible, is abandoned by a noncommittal boyfriend, is fired for being “insufficiently committed,” laments her inadequacy as a friend, and most injurious, is cast aside by her much older Buddhist teacher and lover, Calvin. In short, Ellie is a mess. Is her suffering an opportunity, as her guru propounds, or justification for hopelessness? Unable to move forward, Ellie further endangers herself by trekking to Tibet to retrieve an artifact the guru covets to prove her worthiness. Yet the more she tries to liberate herself from her demons, she more she succumbs to their debilitating power. In notebooks and letters, Ellie vents her tangled emotions, enmeshing readers in the escalating turmoil. Will she find the love she seeks? Will she even survive? As a novelist myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Brandt’s uncanny ability to channel her character’s obsessive rage and despair. On the surface, Ellie’s life is empty. But her inner life is a huge bundle of astute observations and inventive actions. Brandt’s vivid writing allows readers to accompany Ellie on her courageous search for the meaning of being.
Should we succumb to or surpass our suffering?
Why writers read: “Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.” – Annie Proulx
“We slept in bunk beds in the attic and worked with civilians down in the factory. It was a model concentration camp — the kind Nazis displayed to the Red Cross to show Jews worked as laborers, not for the German army. For sure, they didn’t show the Red Cross places like Auschwitz and its crematorium!” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
A Jewish “official” displayed by Nazis to the Red Cross at a “model” concentration camp
Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
