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.
“Our transfer to Auschwitz was a terrible voyage under inhumane conditions. Among my most disturbing memories is when my mother gave the German soldiers her favors in exchange for half a glass of water.” 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.
“When the Nazis occupied Greece, a neighbor told a German soldier, ‘the daughter of our Jewish landlady is sleeping inside.’ I was arrested, still in my nightgown, and trucked to a camp. At the end of my ordeal, when I returned home, partisans offered to kill the neighbor but I said no. She had a two-and-a-half year old daughter, and I did not want the little girl to become an orphan.” 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.
American Jews feared that if they urged the United States government to save more of their people during WW2, they would jeopardize their own already precarious place in society. 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.
My Amazon and Goodreads review of The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (Rating 3) – Upload. Download. Delete. The Candy House by Jennifer Egan opens with the intriguing premise that in the near future we can upload our life experiences, including those not available to conscious memory, and then watch not only our own, but those of everyone else. We could discover hidden truths, check the accuracy of our impressions, and understand the past. Unfortunately, this promising concept, dubbed Own Your Unconscious, is only sporadically reintroduced throughout the book. Instead readers are treated to a confectionary of dazzling riffs in chapters that are meant to be linked, but are merely disjointed. I was challenged to track the characters within one story, let alone across stories. As both a reader and a writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I prioritize character development. Unfortunately, Egan doesn’t dwell on anyone long enough to get inside their (un)conscious selves or dive into their interactions with others. She captures the disconnect between people in today’s social media Zeitgeist, but given that I’m turned off by this fragmentation in real life, why would I choose to recapitulate the experience in a work of fiction? Like many tweets and posts, Egan’s writing is self-indulgent; she amuses herself rather than engaging readers. Fortunately, neither she nor we have to download the contents of our brains to assess one another’s thoughts and feelings. They’re right there on the page. And not worth replaying.
“Supposedly, it was harder to escape Nazi laws in small towns where everyone knew you. It was easier to “untertauchen” (submerge or remain anonymous) in larger towns. So my father took a job teaching at a Jewish school outside Hanover. It did not save us from being transported to Buchenwald.” 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.
“Josef Mengele, the barbaric German doctor, strode into our barracks to inspect the living conditions of its 800 prisoners. He looked like a movie star in his high boots, white gloves, and impeccable uniform. ‘Good afternoon, ladies. Are you comfortable?’ he asked politely. No one said a word. The penalty for addressing this terrifying figure could be death.” 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.
As Halloween approaches, I’m chilled that my first ghost story, “Famine,” will be published in the CultureCult Magazine haunted house anthology HAUS. In “Famine,” a single mother of Irish descent, worried how she’ll feed her daughter in the aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse, is visited by the ghosts of two immigrants who lived in her Bronx apartment: one whose daughter died in 1847 during the Irish potato famine and another who came with her daughter in 1970 during The Troubles. Given how I strive to “nail the ending” in my writing, I was especially gratified when the editor wrote, “The last line brought me to tears.” Read more in SHORT STORIES.
Thanks to Booksweet in Ann Arbor for hosting a wonderful event on October 21, 2022 that featured four local authors, including me reading an excerpt from One Person’s Loss. Thanks as well to the audience for their warm reception and thoughtful questions, and to my fellow authors — vegan cookbook writer Vicki Brett-Gach, and poets Jihyun Yun and Frances Kai-Hwa Wang — for their wise and funny words. Read more about my book in NOVELS. Support independent bookstores in your own community. They’re an irreplaceable asset. Why writers write: “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn” (Anne Frank). Why writers read: “Reading brings us unknown friends”(Honoré de Balzac).
“My brother and uncle were in a 300–member underground Minsk resistance that saved condemned Jewish prisoners. At night, couriers led small groups into the forest. The weakest dropped dead on the way. But of 100,000 prisoners, 10,000 made it into the woods.” 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.
Automobile pioneer Henry Ford blamed an international Jewish conspiracy for the world’s financial woes (as well as Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and making candy bars less tasty). He held Jews responsible for WW1 and WW2, both of which he opposed. Yet, Ford built the Willow Run bomber plant that made B-24s for the Allies. 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.
