Editorial Content for We Must Not Think of Ourselves
Teaser
Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."
Promo
Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."
About the Book
Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."
On a November day in 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of the city are cut off from their former lives and held captive by Nazi guards, and await an uncertain fate. Weeks later, he is approached by a mysterious figure with a surprising request: Will he join a secret group of archivists working to preserve the truth of what is happening inside these walls?
Adam agrees and begins taking testimonies from his students, friends and neighbors. He learns about their childhoods and their daydreams, their passions and their fears, their desperate strategies for safety and survival. The stories form a portrait of endurance in a world where no choices are good ones.
One of the people Adam interviews is his flatmate Sala Wiskoff, who is stoic, determined and funny --- and married with two children. Over the months of their confinement, in the presence of her family, Adam and Sala fall in love. As they desperately carve out intimacy, their relationship feels both impossible and vital, their connection keeping them alive.
But when Adam discovers a possible escape from the Ghetto, he is faced with an unbearable choice: Whom can he save, and at what cost?
Inspired by the testimony-gathering project with the code name Oneg Shabbat, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Grodstein draws readers into the lives of people living on the edge. Told with immediacy and heart, WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES is a piercing story of love, determination and sacrifice.
February 2024 Bookaccino Live Event
December 20, 2023
My book group had a great time at our early December meeting. Fiona Davis joined us via Zoom for our discussion. Props to my husband who put together a camera setup that had Fiona on our big television screen with a wide-angle camera that showed the entire group. We all had busy Novembers and Decembers, so we loved that THE SPECTACULAR was the kind of book that we could get into quickly and read speedily, thanks to Fiona’s prose and the plot that kept us turning the pages. I loved the questions from our group, some of which I incorporated into the interview with Fiona that I did the following week (more on that later). After we met, I decided to do this interview to be sure that readers had a chance to hear her speak about this book, whether or not they were in a book group.











