Heddy and Me

by Susan Varga

"Heddy and Me" spans the twentieth century and some of its great upheavals: war, the Holocaust, immigration.

In telling her mother's story Susan Varga also tells her own. As a tiny baby she barely survived the Holocaust, in hiding in a Hungarian village with her sister and her mother, Heddy. Neither pain or the devastation of this time lessened Heddy's will to go on and recreate her life in Australia.

Genres: Memoir, Jewish, Biography

304 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2000

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing book which intelligently negotiates two usually opposing forms, biography and autobiography/memoir. Varga tells the story of her Hungarian Jewish mother Heddy – her life in Hungary, her experience of World War 2, and her subsequent emigration with her extended family to Australia. But, in telling this story, Varga, as the title conveys, also tells her own. She was born, mid-war, in 1943 and was just 5 when the family migrated. Hers was a complicated growing up in which she struggled to find self. She finally realised, late in her research, that she straddles two generations: the first (those who migrated) and the second (the children of those migrants). For my full review, please see my blog: https://whisperinggums.com/2016/11/12...

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully written and engrossing, I could not put it down. The writing about the war, about the Holocaust, about Budapest life and about Australia in the 50s through the eyes of postwar immigrant was fascinating, enthralling. I had problems with the way the grandmother, a major family character whose actions wove through several generations of the family, was presented in that a few times it conflicted substantially with some of her actions. Reference to a king hit to one of her granddaughters where blood resulted turned the picture I was given on its ear, along with an earlier incident re the contents of a letter, her last contact with her youngest son, showing something about her character that didn't quite fit with how she was presented throughout the work as a whole. Some more information bringing together her opposing sides would have been good. The suspension of disbelief necessary to a satisfied read failed as I could not reconcile the different sides, ending up with a central character missing to many parts too be a believable whole whereas all other characters were real, three dimensional characters.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written Holocaust memoir, set in Hungary and Australia. Spellbinding and very poignant. The ISBN, 0140237674, was already taken but without any details, so I have added this edition

[Susan Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful autobiography with a strong mother daughter bond. Their journey through adverse times is one to admire and treasure. A story that will stay with me ...

[Barbara Darvall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich story to read. Wonderfully set out. A very rewarding read.