There are so many lives that have forever been affected by World War II. For many, their stories ended in the German concentration camps. The survivors have stories to tell and we don’t always want to hear them. Isn’t one story the same as another? I think not.

As I read Sidona’s Thread: The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Life in America I was reminded of the uniqueness of each individual who came through that time. Hanna Perlstein Marcus was born at the Bergen Belson displaced persons camp. Her mother, Sidonia, eventually makes her way to Springfield, Massachusetts and literally cuts out a living as a seamstress for both she and her daughter. As she grows up, Hanna has many unanswered questions about her mother’s past, the primary one being the other half of her conception, the man who fathered her. When Sidonia moves to elderly housing in her later life, Hanna finds old letters and photographs in her mother’s drawer. In secrecy, she takes these without her mother’s knowledge and tries to put together the pieces of her mother’s past and find the basis of her own.

Though the war and all its horrors are a key player here, there is so much more. This is a story of perseverance, resiliency, spirit, family secrets, and mother-daughter relationships and at its core, familial love.

Hanna Perslstein Marcus learns so much with so little to go on. She pays tribute to her mother in this memoir that is told with sewing metaphors. Each chapter begins with a quote from Coats and Clarks Sewing Book: newest Methods from A to Z, the only sewing book her mother ever owned. These are well placed and relevant, weaved throughout the story seamlessly and making a good fit in the end.

I was thoroughly absorbed by Sidonia’s and Hanna’s story. Hanna Perlstein Marcus has gained my respect and gratitude for putting her heart on paper.