This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Many parts of Europe in the early 1900s were strongly anti-Semitic. Lithuania, in particular, was brutal towards its Jewish population. Helen (Hinde while she was living in Lithuania) was the oldest girl of a large Jewish family. To escape persecution, the family decided to immigrate to the United States. First, the father immigrated, then Helen, followed by her brother, Max, who at twelve risked being drafted by the Tsar’s army and enduring years of hardship and brutality only because he was Jewish. The remainder of the family came later. It was a hard life in Lithuania and a difficult and long journey to freedom in the United States, but the family was no stranger to hard work and their powerful sense of family saw them through difficult times.
Mary Helen Fein’s novel, Stitching a Life: An Immigration Story, is a work of creative nonfiction; part historical fiction, part memoir. The author has taken her grandmother’s story, someone she held in the highest regard, and created a compelling, exciting adventure from her life’s story. The story traces young Helen’s (Hinde) journey to the United States and the hard work that followed, along with the friendships and romance that developed along the way. The characters are well developed, the setting described with care, so the reader instantly feels a part of the story. There is plenty of dialogue to help carry the story along. Stitching a Life is a passionate retelling of one woman’s journey and a fitting tribute to Mary Helen Fein’s grandmother. I loved it.
