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Greta's Passage
Greta’s Passage is a one-woman’s journey from a bucolic childhood in a remote little village in the far recesses of Eastern Europe at a time when Fascism was just beginning to consume the world to the height of glamour and sophistication that only Paris of the early 1960’s could offer. In time, Greta, though possessing very little formal education or social polish, proves to be a skillful study. Her education starts when she moves with her family to the big, cosmopolitan city of Bucharest, known at that time, with its wide avenues and Beaux-Arts architecture, as the Paris of Eastern Europe. As her life experiences expand, through marriage, sex, motherhood, and even love, she sheds her naïve persona to embark on an ambitious pursuit of worldliness. The world of the fashionable rich, which she reluctantly enters, shuns her at first, but as her unique powers of observation and imitation become ever more evident, she quickly gains.
348 pages, Paperback
First published April 14, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 25, 2015
I was gifted this book by the author for an honest review.
This lady is a tramp and that's the way I will remember her. Greta Sobel is a gutsy broad that survived by never giving up and doing what was necessary to protect her son and survive in the brutal world of Nazi's and then Communists in Romania.
I saw nothing in this book that said it was an actual life story of a woman, but it certainly reads like one. It's very believable and I would imagine the majority of this really happened to someone somewhere. It reeks of realism.
Greta is an older woman when she begins telling her life story into a tape machine and it's not long before we know we admire her for not only telling the story truthfully but leaving little out. If you have a weak stomach or don't like sexual situations this book is not for you.
You rarely get a glimpse of life from someone born in poverty with little schooling, because they don't have the time, they are just surviving. This story of a Jewish girl living throughout these horrendous times is life affirming in it's tale of a woman who gets back at those who have chosen her as someone to screw with and she is a fighter.
I admire her character, even with all her flaws, (I certainly can understand her son's problems with his mother) and see her as the ultimate survivor. Long live Greta!
This lady is a tramp and that's the way I will remember her. Greta Sobel is a gutsy broad that survived by never giving up and doing what was necessary to protect her son and survive in the brutal world of Nazi's and then Communists in Romania.
I saw nothing in this book that said it was an actual life story of a woman, but it certainly reads like one. It's very believable and I would imagine the majority of this really happened to someone somewhere. It reeks of realism.
Greta is an older woman when she begins telling her life story into a tape machine and it's not long before we know we admire her for not only telling the story truthfully but leaving little out. If you have a weak stomach or don't like sexual situations this book is not for you.
You rarely get a glimpse of life from someone born in poverty with little schooling, because they don't have the time, they are just surviving. This story of a Jewish girl living throughout these horrendous times is life affirming in it's tale of a woman who gets back at those who have chosen her as someone to screw with and she is a fighter.
I admire her character, even with all her flaws, (I certainly can understand her son's problems with his mother) and see her as the ultimate survivor. Long live Greta!
March 2, 2015
This is a very well written work about a woman who has seen it all, and lived to tell the story.
I have the utmost respect for those who take on the responsibility of committing their life story to paper. We are all different and have all seen and done different things, but sometimes the stories are so difficult to imagine they could only be reality because fiction could never be so unbelievable.
The things this woman has seen and survived make the rest of our daily lives seem so normal and without drama. This book is very heartfelt and honest and the trials and tribulations Greta has lived through represent some of the most important historical happenings in recent history.
The language used in the telling of her life is gritty and honest and helps you to understand the kind of things she has had to overcome to protect herself from a violent world.
In the end, this was an intriguing book with a lot to offer the reader both historically and from a point of empathy. Very well done.
This review is based on a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I have the utmost respect for those who take on the responsibility of committing their life story to paper. We are all different and have all seen and done different things, but sometimes the stories are so difficult to imagine they could only be reality because fiction could never be so unbelievable.
The things this woman has seen and survived make the rest of our daily lives seem so normal and without drama. This book is very heartfelt and honest and the trials and tribulations Greta has lived through represent some of the most important historical happenings in recent history.
The language used in the telling of her life is gritty and honest and helps you to understand the kind of things she has had to overcome to protect herself from a violent world.
In the end, this was an intriguing book with a lot to offer the reader both historically and from a point of empathy. Very well done.
This review is based on a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews