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The Choice

Edith Eger (Goodreads Author)

4.55 · Rating details · 38,234 ratings · 4,140 reviews

In 1944, sixteen-year-old Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. There she endured unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. Over the coming months, Edith’s bravery helped her sister to survive, and led to her bunkmates rescuing her during a death march. When their camp was finally liberated, Edith was pulled from a pile of bodies, ...more

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Paperback, 360 pages

Published August 16th 2018 by Rider (first published September 5th 2017)

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Aug 02, 2018 Maureen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

**4.5 STARS **

Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

I could never find the right words and phrases to describe what a moving yet uplifting memoir this is. Edith Eger was just 16 years old in 1944 when she entered the gates of hell - Auschwitz. Her grandparents and mother and father were sent to the gas chamber under the direct orders of the inf **4.5 STARS **

Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

I could never find the right words and phrases to describe what a moving yet uplifting memoir this is. Edith Eger was just 16 years old in 1944 when she entered the gates of hell - Auschwitz. Her grandparents and mother and father were sent to the gas chamber under the direct orders of the infamous Josef Mengele. Under those same orders she was made to dance for Mengele. Although she was terrified, she managed to take her mind back to the outside world, back to when she used to give ballet performances for appreciative audiences. At the end of her performance for Mengele she was thrown a small loaf of bread - and though grateful that she had the extra food to share with her sister Magda and others, she was also relieved that he hadn’t bestowed the same fate on her as her beloved family members.

I won’t go into any more detail, but Edith shares her experiences in Auschwitz , and when liberation finally came, she was discovered among a pile of bodies barely alive.

Man’s inhumanity to man never fails to shock me. The ones who were fortunate enough to survive the death camps, didn’t just need medical intervention for their extreme malnutrition and other physical problems, but more importantly it was the huge psychological scars that would prove the most difficult to heal.

Edith went on to become an eminent psychologist, someone who helped people come to terms with the traumas in their lives, (and she shares many of those cases with us) but she also needed to exorcise the ghosts of her own past too!

I found when I was reading this book, that an involuntary sob would sometimes appear out of nowhere. It was excruciating to read at times, and yet I couldn’t put it down. Desmond Tutu said that this book would leave you forever changed- I’m inclined to agree. Thank you Edith for sharing your courageous and inspiring life story, it’s not something I will forget any time soon.

Thank you so Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK Ebury Publishing for my Arc. I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange. ...more

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Aug 14, 2018 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, holocaust-themes, favorite, recommend, memoir-favorite, page-turners, war, inspirational-spiritual, biography-autobiography-memoir, jewish-themes

“Time doesn’t heal. It’s what you do with time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief”.

The above excerpt is true - but that doesn’t mean it’s easy - or can be achieved by waving a magic wand- or positive thinking it alone. We’d only be fooling ourselves.
It’s more involved than simply stating a mantra.

But.... I’m getting ahead of myself.
The most important thi ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 Louise Wilson rated it it was amazing

Dr Edith Eva Eger is an eminent psychologist whose own experiences as a Holocaust survivor helps her treat patients and allows them to escape the prisons of their own minds.

Edith Eger was just sixteen when the Nazis came to her hometown of Hungry and took the Jewish family to an interment centre and then to Auschwitz. Her parents were then sent to the gas chamber by Joseph Menele. Edith was demanded by Menele to waltz "The Blue Danube" just a few hours after her parents were murdered. Menele rew ...more

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Mar 09, 2020 Dem rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, ww2, memoir

Edith Eger’s determination and courage to survive against the odds make this a heart-breaking but powerful and inspiring read.

This is what reading is all about for me, and I am grateful to Edith Eger who generously takes her readers on a journey that is harrowing but so inspirational and motivating. I have read so many concentration camp survivor’s stories over the years and each and every one of those books have taught me something new and that is the reason I keep reading and learning and r ...more

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Oct 07, 2018 Karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the memoir of Dr. Edith Eger, age 90...an internationally acclaimed psychologist and one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors. At the age of sixteen, along with her parents and sister Magda, was sent to Auschwitz.
Edie and Magda survived multiple death camps, and Edie was found barely alive in a pile of corpses when American Troops liberated the camps in 1945.
Such an extraordinary book on survival and stories of how she has helped others to heal by confronting their suffering and maki ...more

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Sep 04, 2017 Kathleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: free, arc, favorites, memoir-bio, nonfiction-other, read-ebook, netgalley-2017, read-in-2017, help-thy-self

This is a beautiful, absolutely pitch-perfect memoir by Dr. Edith Eger. I was not familiar with Dr. Eger prior to reading this, and I am grateful to her for sharing her story.

The book is organized into four sections: Prison, Escape, Freedom, and Healing. I would describe it as three parts memoir, one part therapy. It would be enough, simply for nanogeneraian Dr. Eger to tell us her story and share the important events she witnessed in her lifetime. But she is not satisfied to make this book onl This is a beautiful, absolutely pitch-perfect memoir by Dr. Edith Eger. I was not familiar with Dr. Eger prior to reading this, and I am grateful to her for sharing her story.

The book is organized into four sections: Prison, Escape, Freedom, and Healing. I would describe it as three parts memoir, one part therapy. It would be enough, simply for nanogeneraian Dr. Eger to tell us her story and share the important events she witnessed in her lifetime. But she is not satisfied to make this book only about her experience. She is clearly a committed therapist who understands pain and forgiveness uniquely, and has a very powerful message that to truly live a full life, we need to make the choice not only to forgive, but to forgive ourselves.

I describe the book as pitch-perfect because from the introduction, Dr. Eger explains that there is no heirarchy when it comes to suffering. She does not tell her story so that the reader will minimize their own suffering in comparison, that would just be another way of judging ourselves. As a therapist, she understands that someone whose suffering may seem superficial to others, is generally attributed to something much more deeply rooted, and representative of a much larger pain. I find it extraordinary that she is capable of empathizing with others to this extent. When you read her story, and I hope you do, you will understand the extent of her personal suffering. Not only what she endured in her youth, but as an adult coming to terms with everything she lost, and finding a way to let it be her strength, instead of imagining what her life would have been had it not been interrupted by the cruelty and injustice of the Holocaust. I can not find the words to describe the depth of her compassion.

Life is about choices, and I am guilty of the destructive thinking that Dr. Eger drescribes in the book. In my Midewestern upbringing, I was raised to take responsibility for my choices. I pride myself in this responsibility. What this book has made me realize that often in my experience, this has been a punishing idea - there are choices, and there are consequences. But life is not that simple, there are choices and more choices. Often we choose to punish ourselves. In doing so, we are imprisoning ourselves with our own beliefs - of not feeling worthy, a fear of making a bad choice... The author is open about choices she made in her own life, and that they may not have been the best ones. Everyone suffers. Everyone has endured the consequences of their own poor choices. But to live our best life, we must continue to make choices, instead of allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by our past.

Thank you, Dr. Edith Eva Eger for sharing your story and your wisdom. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Choice for review. ...more

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Sep 12, 2018 Paul Lockman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-favourites

5 stars
Absorbing. Brilliant. A truly inspirational read.
What a woman! Edith Eger is now 90 years old and has given the world this outstanding memoir of her survival in Auschwitz as a teenager and then her life after WWII when she and her husband emigrated to America and all the while describing how she has dealt with being a survivor and her path to self-acceptance, self-fulfilment and inner peace. The book cover has a quote from Desmond Tutu, ‘A gift to humanity. One of those rare and eternal s 5 stars
Absorbing. Brilliant. A truly inspirational read.
What a woman! Edith Eger is now 90 years old and has given the world this outstanding memoir of her survival in Auschwitz as a teenager and then her life after WWII when she and her husband emigrated to America and all the while describing how she has dealt with being a survivor and her path to self-acceptance, self-fulfilment and inner peace. The book cover has a quote from Desmond Tutu, ‘A gift to humanity. One of those rare and eternal stories that leave you forever changed.’ It’s hard to disagree with that sentiment.

What makes it such a great book? A few reasons for me – first and foremost, it's a remarkable story of survival in itself. I felt the timeframes of the book were just right with the first third of the book devoted to her time in the infamous concentration camp and the remaining two-thirds devoted to the rest of her life. I really liked the fact that a considerable amount was written about the few months just after the war ended and the adjustment to freedom and the brand new life Edith was facing in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which is something you don’t often find with books written by holocaust survivors. Also, the writing is free flowing, engaging and very high quality. It’s a real page-turner. For me, probably the main thing that makes it so memorable is that Edith went onto to become a registered clinical psychologist and she offers such raw and honest insights into the human condition, how she coped with such a traumatic experience and what gives our lives meaning. I felt the balance in describing her own psyche and healing and the examples she gave of the many clients she has helped was just right too.

Very early on we get some insights into Edith’s firm belief about the power of the mind and our thinking and how she wants us to view her experience as a survivor…..

'Why do we so often struggle to feel alive, or distance ourselves from feeling life fully? Why is it such a challenge to bring life to life? If you asked me for the most common diagnosis among the people I treat, I wouldn’t say depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, although these conditions are all too common among those I’ve known, loved, and guided to freedom. No, I would say hunger. We are hungry. We are hungry for approval, attention, affection. We are hungry for the freedom to embrace life and to really know and be ourselves.

We become victims not because of what happens to us but when we choose to hold onto our victimization. We develop a victim’s mind – a way of thinking and being that is rigid, blaming, pessimistic, stuck in the past, unforgiving, punitive, and without healthy limits or boundaries. We become our own jailors when we choose the confines of the victim’s mind.

I also want to say there is no hierarchy of suffering. There’s nothing that makes my pain worse or better than yours, no graph on which we can plot the relative importance of one sorrow versus another. People say to me “Things in my life are pretty hard right now, but I have no right to complain – it’s not Auschwitz.” This kind of comparison can lead us to minimize or diminish our own suffering. Being a survivor, being a “thriver” requires absolute acceptance of what was and what is………..I don’t want you to hear my story and say, “My own suffering is less significant.” I want you to hear my story and say, “If she can do it, then so can I!”

Edith talks us through some of the big names in psychology and psychotherapy that she gravitated towards, e.g. Rogers, Ellis, Seligman, and she came up with her own version of therapy that she labelled Choice Therapy, as freedom is about choosing compassion, humour, optimism, intuition, curiosity, and self-expression. And to be free is to live in the present. There was also a heart breaking choice that Edith had to make standing in line at Auschwitz but I won’t put in a spoiler describing what that choice was.

Nearing the end of the book it’s 2010 and Edith has been invited to address an army unit returning from combat in Afghanistan to talk about her experience of trauma and how she coped and survived. She gets a little nervous stepping up to the podium but then reminds herself.....I was there to share the most important truth I know, that the biggest prison is in your own mind, and in your pocket you already hold the key: the willingness to take absolute responsibility for your life; the willingness to risk; the willingness to release yourself from judgment and reclaim your innocence, accepting and loving yourself for who you really are – human, imperfect, and whole.

It would be interesting to know how many holocaust survivors are still alive. There can't be too many, most would be well into their 80s and 90s. Edith herself is 90 and her sister Magda who was with her the whole time in Auschwitz is 95. It's so critical we get as many survivor stories published as possible while they are still alive. Thank you Edith Eger for sharing your brave and compelling story with us. ...more

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Aug 19, 2017 Samantha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-autobiography-memoir, read-in-2017, giveaways-arcs

I will admit that I did not expect to enjoy this book. I thought it was going to be another holocaust memoir with a hint of psychological analysis. But man, was I wrong.
This book was beautifully written, and was a struggle to put down every night. This book was a small exercise in self-help, disguised as a gorgeous memoir. The Choice has genuinely made me change how I think about life.

I would highly recommend this book.

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Sep 11, 2018 Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: z2018, history, zz-5star, goodreads-author, holocaust, readbooks-female-author-or-illust, 1-also-at-librarything, reviewed, non-fiction, psychology

full 5 stars book

It’s a great mix of holocaust, biography, psychology, though it’s mostly her personal story, with various family members, and to a lesser extent some of her patients included. It’s extremely readable and it flows beautifully, and I didn’t want to put it down.

It’s a compelling account, and it’s powerful, and for me with “punches to the gut” emotional.

It seems that she wants readers/others to feel empowered by her story and with what she’s learned about healing and living, but m full 5 stars book

It’s a great mix of holocaust, biography, psychology, though it’s mostly her personal story, with various family members, and to a lesser extent some of her patients included. It’s extremely readable and it flows beautifully, and I didn’t want to put it down.

It’s a compelling account, and it’s powerful, and for me with “punches to the gut” emotional.

It seems that she wants readers/others to feel empowered by her story and with what she’s learned about healing and living, but my depressed and anxious feelings were brought up, though I definitely also saw ways to use what she teaches and models.

The “reveal” toward the end was fine for me because it was something she hadn’t remembered, so it felt as though the reader was learning it when she did and didn’t feel manipulative.

I’m so glad that she wrote this book, and in this format/form and with this content. It’s an indispensable addition to the Holocaust memoir genre, and one of the very best.

She does have a co-writer but I never got the feeling that I wasn’t directly hearing her voice.

It’s a very quotable book including:

“How easily a life can become a litany of guilt and regret, a song that keeps echoing with the same chorus, with the inability to forgive ourselves. How easily the life we didn’t live becomes the only life we prize. How easily we are seduced by the fantasy that we are in control, that we were ever in control, that the things we could or should have doneor said have the power, if only we had done or said them, to cure pain, to erase suffering, to vanish loss. How easily we can cling to – worship – the choice we think we could or should have made.”

and

“So often when we are unhappy it is becasue we are taking too much responsibility or we are taking too little. Instead of being assertive and choosing clearly for ourselves, we might become aggressive (choosing for others) or passive (letting others choose for us), or passive-aggressive (choosing for others by preventing them from achieving what they are choosing for themselves).”

and

“Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief.” ...more

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Feb 20, 2019 Cheri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019, wwii, holocaust-survivors, germany, memoir, library-book, texas

At the age of 16, Edith Eva Eger, Edie to her friends, was living in Kosice, Slovakia when she, along with one of her two sisters, her mother and father were forced to leave their home behind, and removed to a labor camp, followed by their transfer to Auschwitz. It was the last day she would ever see her mother, and where her parents were executed.

”Survivors don’t have time to ask, ‘Why me?’ For survivors, the only relevant question is, ‘What now?’”

Dr. Josef Mengele has requested entertainm At the age of 16, Edith Eva Eger, Edie to her friends, was living in Kosice, Slovakia when she, along with one of her two sisters, her mother and father were forced to leave their home behind, and removed to a labor camp, followed by their transfer to Auschwitz. It was the last day she would ever see her mother, and where her parents were executed.

”Survivors don’t have time to ask, ‘Why me?’ For survivors, the only relevant question is, ‘What now?’”

Dr. Josef Mengele has requested entertainment by one of the new arrivals, and the girls in this group have pushed her forward knowing he is looking for someone to dance for his entertainment, the orchestra gathering outside. Addressing her as “little dancer,” he commands, ”dance for me.”

”He never takes his eyes off me, but he attends to his duties as he watches. I can hear his voice over the music. He discusses with the other officer which ones of the hundred girls present will be killed next. If I miss a step, if I do anything to displease him, it could be me. I dance. I dance. I am dancing in hell. I can’t bear to see the executioner as he decides our fates. I close my eyes.”

He tosses her a loaf of bread – a gesture that will save her life.

This is not only a memoir of her life in Auschwitz, of how she managed to survive in this literal concentration camp, but also the story of her healing after, her life after, and how she has a unique insight into helping others escape their own “concentration camps,” the things that hinder us, prevent us from living life to the fullest. She also shares stories about patients and their challenges, and some of their breakthroughs. A memoir that shows a path to self-acceptance, and healing, she has shared a path toward freedom from past fears, from the anger, injustice, unresolved grief, and the ”freedom to enjoy the full rich feast of life.”

Edith Eger will celebrate her 92nd this September 29th after publishing her memoir just weeks after her 90th birthday. She is an amazing woman with an incredible story to share.

Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep it running, for the loan of this book!
...more

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Mar 13, 2019 Hans rated it it was amazing

Easily six stars! I don't have words to describe this gem. Just read it yourself! ...more

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Oct 19, 2017 Chrissie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philo-psychol, poland, audible, ww2, hungary, 2018-read, favorites, religion, bio, germany

This book is more than a holocaust memoir. Look at the title--The Choice: Embrace the Possible. It does detail the author’s holocaust experiences, but it goes further. Its primary focus concerns how to live life after surviving a trauma, any trauma. It is more about living than it is about death. The tone of the book is positive, not negative. Changing the past is not possible, but actively choosing how you wish to live the future is.

The introduction outlines what the book will cover--Edith Ege ...more

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Aug 10, 2020 Tania rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books, non-fiction, 2020, memoir, best

“Survivors don't have time to ask, "Why me?" For survivors, the only relevant question is, "What now?”

I can’t believe that such a small little book (287 pages) can pack such a big punch! I think this memoir and self-help text is life-changing and incredibly inspiring. If you only read one book this year make it this one.

The first third of The Choice is a description of Edith’s family life and her arrival at Auschwitz at the age of 16. As in Night the devil is in the detail, and some of the image ...more

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Jun 28, 2020 Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books

An emotional read especially the ordeal of the sisters trying to survive the terrible place Auschwitz a story that should never be forgotten.🌹

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Apr 19, 2020 Jan Rice rated it really liked it

Shelves: psychology, book-club-selection, biography-memoir, history, keep-a-suitcase-packed

This book began as a roadmap for dealing with trauma and suffering amid societal upheaval -- in her case, the Holocaust. Given our current situation, I resonated with that. I'm thinking not only of our pandemic and the required social distancing and economic crisis, but also the tragicomedy of our having a wannabe totalitarian leader here in America who plays the segments of our population against each other, no matter how many lives will be lost. Under such circumstances, what good will it do f ...more

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Aug 28, 2018 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I once had the opportunity to hear Christopher Reeves speak after he was paralyzed from his neck down. He was confined to a wheelchair, dependent on a ventilator to breath and yet I was totally amazed at all he had accomplished after his accident...how he did not allow his body to imprison him. Tears flowed through out the audience as he shared his story . I do not think anyone could leave that day without being inspired.

Amazing as it is, Edy Eger and her book have impacted me even more. Not onl ...more

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Aug 12, 2017 Ruth O'hagan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This was one of the most beautiful and inspiring books I have ever read. Edith tells the story her extraordinary. The main premise of the book is how she highlights her extraordinary experience as a Holocaust survivor and the how she learned to heal herself. Edith gently takes the reader by the hand vividly guides the reader on a journey of her past and present through this book. The most compelling section of the book is when she retells her experience in the concentration camps. She explains i ...more

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May 22, 2019 Leila rated it it was amazing

Shelves: a-bit-of-most-subjects, a-dipping-into-book-of-wisdom, unforgettable-books, favorites, spiritual-books, unusual-books, my-challenge-books, war, non-fiction, autobiographies

This is for me, an unforgettable book which I will go back to many times. It is full of such pain, honesty, truth and many more emotions which are threading through the full story. The terrible experiences of a Jewish girl taken prisoner by the Nazis and sent to their prison camps, especially Auschwitz is told during the first part of the book but then there is so much wisdom, humanity, love, pain and understanding throughout the second part. It is not an easy book to review for there is so much ...more

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Jul 27, 2017 MJ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

No words to describe this. It's life-changing and I will never forget what I read here. Thank you so much for sharing your story, Dr. Eger. It truly was one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. ...more

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May 13, 2020 Marjolein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, non-fiction, wwii, bookclub, biography, recommendations, books-i-own, read-in-2020, 5-star-review

Bookclub book of the month - May

“Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief.”

I don't even know where to start my review. Somehow, I was expecting this to be a story about survival, but it ended up being so much more than that. Edith Eger is an inspiration to us all, and her book is most definitely a must-read. Her st ...more

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Jul 23, 2020 Schizanthus Nerd rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, content-warnings, kindle-food

“Just remember, no one can take away from you what you’ve put in your mind.”

Sometimes a book will find you at the very moment you need it. This is one of those books. I’ve previously marvelled at the resilience of some other remarkable human beings who survived the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel. Viktor Frankl.

Joining them is Edith Eger. A survivor whose courage both astounds me and gives me hope. A woman who will be occupying the space in my heart that she has made bigger with her compassion. A tou ...more

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Jul 26, 2018 Tati rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Never forget. Never again

Years ago, I've had the chance of visiting a concentration camp. It was a haunted place, a place that had its soul burnt in the crematories. It is a dark and heavy feeling to know that someone very likely died or feared for their lives where you are casually stepping. It was not a happy visit. But it was a necessary visit, one I think every human being should make, so that the horror of the Holocaust is not allowed to happen again.

That being said, I sometimes feel that t ...more

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May 08, 2018 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: four-star

An uplifting and powerful lifetime memoir documenting not only the authors experience in Auschwitz but also the longer term recovery, both physically and psychologically. This was an unexpected read in the sense that I anticipated much of the book to be focused on wartime; when in actual fact, only the first third was. The latter parts of the book focus on the authors personal life as she nurtured a family and works as a psychologist.

This was different to many books of a similar genre but I enj ...more

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Jan 15, 2019 Amie Frost rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pop-sugar-reading-challenge-2019, read-in-2019, own-the-book

This was a very moving and emotional read. Learning about Edith’s experience throughout WWII and being a survivor. Later in life she becomes a psychologist and tells the stories of many of her patients, and how through healing them, she helped to heal herself.

I have only given 3 stars, as although a good read with some great messages, I thought there was too many accounts of the people she had treated, and personally I got a little bored of reading them.

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Oct 10, 2019 Kym Moore rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

How does one survive negative feelings and destructive patterns of behavior resulting from depression, worthlessness, grief, facing death, inadequacy or even survivor's guilt?

This is an excellent book, but I must warn you that it was a very emotional read that made it difficult to get through without crying (a lot). It's so much more than just a powerful memoir. As a survivor of Auschwitz, yet struggling with flashbacks and survivor's guilt, Dr. Edith Eva Eger's journey gives you hope that we ca ...more

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May 10, 2020 Amy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology, world-war-two, holocaust, hungary, biography-memoir, non-fiction, dance, jewish, autobiography

It took me a long time to figure out how to review this five star read. This is not an easy book. In fact its hard to pick up a book that you know will be powerful. There's never a time to truly be "in the mood." But being in Goodreads, there is always a reason to pick up a particular book at a particular time. I knew the time for this had come.

Dr. Edith Eva Eger is a psychologist like me, and her book opens with some of the struggles of her patients. The undercurrent theme of the book, or perha ...more

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Mar 04, 2019 Tracey Anderson rated it it was amazing

This isn't just a memoir about living through the holocaust, in fact Edith's time in the concentration camps is a very small part of the story. This is a memoir about recovering and moving on. Learning how to for forgive yourself for things that happened when you had no control over your life. Every day we make choices for ourselves without even thinking about it and those choices can effect your life and the people around us. How do we forgive ourself when those choices have such catastrophic c ...more

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Aug 10, 2018 Gary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 13, 2020 Julia rated it it was amazing

Wow, what a book! Such an absorbing and truly inspirational read, Edith’s story is extraordinary. What she went through as a child is incomprehensible and then to go on to achieve what she did is remarkable. A really well written, fascinating memoir.

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Mar 26, 2020 Monique Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I absolutely loved this book. It’s one of those books that you just don’t want to put down. Beautifully written and straight from the heart. What a wise and wonderful woman she is. A must read.

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Non Fiction Book ...: The Choice: Embrace the Possible (Apr 1-May 31, 2021)	4	16	Feb 18, 2021 10:27PM
Reto Kuale	2	6	Nov 19, 2020 10:29AM
Jewish Book Club: 2020/4 Final Conclusions for Edith Eger's The Choice: APRIL POLL WINNER	10	22	May 27, 2020 06:27AM
Play Book Tag: The Choice - Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger - 5 stars!	2	15	May 11, 2020 07:04PM

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Genres

Nonfiction

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Autobiography > Memoir

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History

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Biography

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Psychology

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World War II > Holocaust

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Self Help

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War

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War > World War II

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Biography Memoir

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About Edith Eger

Edith Eger

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Books by Edith Eger

The Gift 12 Lessons to Save Your Life & The Choice By Edith Eger 2 Books Collection Set

The Choice, The Librarian of Auschwitz, The Child of Auschwitz 3 Books Collection Set

Mans Search For Meaning, Ultimate Meaning, The Choice 3 Books Collection Set

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Goodreads Staffers Share Their Top Three Books of the Year

Every December, as we wrap up our annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, we ask our book-loving colleagues a simple yet incredibly tough...

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Quotes from The Choice: Embra...

“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.” — 105 likes

“We don’t know where we’re going, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but no one can take away from you what you put in your own mind.” — 87 likes

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