Bo, Jenny, and I [Hardcover]

Bo, Jenny and I is a memoir describing the life of a young woman growing up in unusual circumstances, as well as a discussion of political and sociological effects of troubled times upon ordinary people. After an early childhood in pre-war Antwerp, the author, her formidable grandmother, and her young, unconventional working mother fled to England in 1940, upon Germanys invasion of Belgium. As refugees, the family adapted to its changed circumstances and to life in World War II England. The political upheavals of the times are reflected in the life of this small family and its remarkable experiences.This is a very engaging text; I was struck by the way that it blended the personal (including the family dynamics) with the historical.Huguette Herrmann worked for 22 years as a librarian for Archives of German Literature, which is visited by scholars of modern German literature from all over the world. She has also worked as a translator of legal, technical and other texts and has studied politics, history, Jungian psychology and literature.What are the deepest impressions Huguettes book made on me? One, certainly, is her vivid portraiture: you come away from it with the sense that you know her grandmother, Bo, and her mother, Jenny, as old family friends. They would make fantastic characters in any novel, but here they are, drawn from real life.From beginning to end, Bo, Jenny, and I is a fascinating book to read. It is not your typical Holocaust memoir, and as such it may be even more important than more traditional memoirs because it provides readers with a different vantage point from which to view the war - and its consequences. I highly recommend this book for inclusion in all public and private libraries.