Honestly, I struggled with motivation to finish this audiobook. Without doubt, the author has led a life with traumatic experiences which is worth telling later generations about. However, I found the pace tiresome after an initial interesting start

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really love reading ww2 stories and this was such a different, great read! memoirs are so interesting to me and this was a great one i will be recommending!

Bending Toward the Sun is the memoir of a family’s experiences during the horror of the Holocaust. Their story is told in three generations of women, Rita, Leslie, and Mikaela. At the front of this memoir is the powerful and inspiring resilience of the human spirit.

The first story is told in the voice of Rita Lurie who was only five years old when she was forced to flee her home in Poland to hide from the Nazis. They persuaded a neighboring Polish farmer to harbour them in his attic. This was in exchange of jewelry and furs. From 1942 to 1944, she and fourteen members of her family hid in a cramped, dark and filthy attic, subsisting on scraps of food. I cannot wrap my mind around what this existence must have been. It’s unimaginable. Adding to the severity of the situation, little Rita is witness to her little brother and her mother both dying by her side. Her toddler brother possibly died of suffocation to keep him from crying. After two years in hiding, Rita and her surviving family spent the next five years wandering throughout Europe, living in displaced-persons camps, waiting for a country to allow them residence. While in the displacement camp, Lurie’s father remarried and Laurie had deep resentment toward her.

The story later skips to decades later where Rita is now the matriarch of a close-knit family in California. Rita reeling from her past, unknowingly passes to her children her feelings of fear, apprehension, and guilt.

The collaborative story reveals how deeply the Holocaust remains in the hearts and minds of survivors and their descendants.

The first story was the most engaging. It was sad but almost sadder was how the past affected everyone’s future

This is not a story about a family surviving the holocaust by hiding in an attic in world war two, and then travelling around Europe, including crossing the Alps while trying to find a new home. That is covered in a few chapters only. This is a story about a girl that misses her mother, blames the loss of her mother for everything, never gets over it, has totally over the top expectations of what her mother would really have been like, and then passes her insecurities on to her daughter. She then had a totally supporting and loving childhood, but still grows up with issues. This is all about very unrealistic expectations of mothers, it is totally self centred and self absorbed, there is no understanding that the people that went through the same situations with her would also have needs, no, it's all about her and how sad she was and how she needed more.

This was a lovely audiobook! The narrators were very good at transmitting the essence and general feelings portrayed, I found myself transported to the story—however hard the situations portrayed were. In an era were antisemitism is becoming rampant, this audiobook has become not only important but necessary. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to review it. I'd say this audiobook is perfect to listen in family for older and more mature kids—since the topics are heavy—or for teenagers and adults alike.

This book recounts the lives of 3 generations of Jewish women following the Grandma's survival of the holocaust. It is told from the points of view of the grandma (Rita), mother (Leslie), and briefly the pre-teen granddaughter (Makayla). Starting with Rita's preschool years in Poland before the Nazi occupation, the story winds through fleeing her home, hiding in a farmers attic for 2 years, losing her mother and brother, and the aftermath of the war in Displaced Person Camps. She survived TB in Italy before emigration to the US with her father, stepmother and sister. We hear how hard it was to adjust to life in New York, only to be uprooted a few years later to Chicago. Then after marrying young, she moved again to California. The actress who tells her story does an excellent job.

From there, the story is told from Leslie's point of view. Growing up in California, hearing bits and pieces of the family's past, picking up on her mom's need to feel safe above all else. Their emotional lives were very intertwined, which at times strengthened them and at other times put extra strain on them. Eventually, they decided to work together to write this book and we hear about their conversations with relatives and Leslie's trip to Poland to see the town and specifically the attic where her mom survived.
This part was read by Leslie herself, and although she did a decent job, it would probably have been more enjoyable to listen to an actor.

It is a beautiful work about a sad, dark time, and the amazing way that people persevere and find joy.

It breaks my heart that the holocaust happened, but I am outraged that there are people who deny it. Hopefully, this book will help make people more aware our history.

Well, I really tried but I couldn't finish this audiobook. Rita's part is quite interesting as it is a real life story, however, it goes so slow. I am usually very patient with slow moving books as well but this just seems very repetitive, slow and uneventful.

I am sorry to DNF it.

Bending towards the Sun was extremely interesting. The narrative was engrossing, at times heart wrenching but always entertaining.
The choice of narrators were ideal for this audiobook.

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Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and Rita Lurie tells of how the mother’s holocaust experience affected later generations. The book is told through the eyes of Rita, the mother and a holocaust survivor, and her daughter, Leslie, who grew up in the United States.

One of the reasons I wanted to read Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and Rita Lurie was to learn more about trauma influences later generations. This a point often overlooked, and sometimes even ridiculed.

That issue, however, was not significantly touched upon in this book.

The narration is done by the author, and her family which I felt was lacking. They are not professional narrators and instead of embracing the personal story (ex: To Be Honest by Michael Leviton), they are trying to sound professional. By all means, it’s charming to have a personal story told with a personal touch, not forcibly try to lose it and sound mechanical.

I thought the first part of the book, the story of Rita was fascinating. Rita’s story is altogether tragic. As a young girl she had to hide, for two years, in the attic of a Polish farmer during World War II. Rita had to watch her mother and brother die, he aunt lose a baby, and almost died herself.

After the war, Rita’s family found themselves strangers in their own country. That is they no longer had a place to call home, and were moving from one camp to another, becoming Displaced Persons, finally immigrating to America. Undeniably a fascinating story which is certainly worthy of being told.

The second part, that of Leslie, Rita’s daughter, I found to be disappointing – even though, or maybe because, I was looking forward to it. Leslie grew up in an ideal home, one which many only dream of with a career that many could only envy. In this segment Leslie tries to explain how her mother’s trauma affected her. I don’t doubt that it has, there are many cases like that. Instead of focusing on this however, Leslie seems to gloss over it. She mentions studies and research, but never follows up on them, or how they are applicable to her.

I was fascinated by Rita’s story, her experiences, what she remembered versus what really happened, and the worldview as seen through her eyes. On the contrary, the book never got around to focus on what I hoped it would be about

Bending Toward the Sun is an audiobook that begins set in t time of the Holocaust.. Those bonds shaped from trauma shape the main female characters way of understanding and bonding ven many years later. This would be a great audiobook to share with a class that was trying to learn more about the far reaching impact from the Holocaust.

It is incredibly rare that I DNF a book, it happens probably only once or twice a year. Unfortunately this audiobook was one of them. Rita's story of when the Nazis arrived in her town, going on the run and her family having to live in the attic of a relative's house for quite some time was really interesting and heart breaking. I cannot imagine how those people felt having to live like that in constant fear for their lives. For Rita to go through that as a young child and for her to experience the death of relatives in the attic must have been horrific. However, I feel that the book just didn't do justice to her experiences and I felt these major life altering events were not focused on enough. There could have been more details and longer time spent on this period of her life so that readers can get a better understanding of what she went through to then be able to link it to how it affected her in later life. I really think that was what I was looking for with this book, a clear before and after picture of cause and effect. I could see some of this obviously, but some of her later story as an adult I couldn't seem to connect to her history. I had been really intrigued by the generational trauma aspect but again, it was difficult to connect the stories and instead Leslie's part (Rita's daughter) just seemed like the story of a woman who didn't think her Mum did a good enough job raising her.
DNF at 70%

Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir is unique in its story of the Holocaust by discussing how Jewish family members survived and then the generational aftermath which ensued. In this story which tells the story of both a mother who survived the Holocaust and her daughter, this story includes both experiences about WW2 era Europe and America after the World Wars. The mother's story is much like Anne Frank's with less planning. The daughter discusses her complicated feelings about her religious beliefs and what her life was like knowing generational trauma while living in America. Overall, this is an interesting take on a Holocaust memoir and am glad I gave this nonfiction book a chance.

Unfortunately, the story's pacing was what prevented me from connecting with it more wholly. In alternating perspectives, this would work ideally as a novel, but as an audiobook, there were many sections where I would lose track of who's story was who's. The first part and last part of the novel were gripping for me, as the first was how the family survived and the last part was how her future family members were also so deeply affected by the Holocaust as well. The middle, however, was not as memorable. Many details blurred out or feel repetitive to the reader. Due to the time and perspective it was written, there is also lines which reaffirm traditional family roles and gender.

For people looking for a different take on the Holocaust or are looking to study intergenerational trauma throughout religious and ethnic groups, Bending Towards the Sun may be the book for you. This book is slow paced and repetitive, but still has plenty of new and important details to consider as a memoir about a horrific genocide and beyond.

My first requirement when it comes to listening to an audiobook is the narrator's voice - and Bending Toward the Sun was no let down! It was so soothing at times, and truly felt like that human connection that you get in a real life conversation.
This is a must listen/must read in my opinion! The story is amazing, thought-provoking and fascinating. I will say that I enjoyed the first half of the story more than the second half, as I just seemed to enjoy Rita's story telling a little more than her daughters.
My favorite part of this story is of all the Holocaust survivor stories out there, not often do you come across the ones that will talk about the effects it has on future generations, and that I find very important.
Overall, this is a relevant and interesting listen/read that I would recommend to many people!

This book is in two parts the first is the story of the Polish Jewish mother who was a survivor of the holocaust. The second was the story of her daughter who was born and raised in America. The first part was read by the mother herself, very moving and explained the situation for so many people very well. Despite the human horror of the events and tragic loss of life, the mother and her family left everything and emigrated to America to begin a new life. An opportunity to start a new life and repair the damage done. The daughter who appears to have had a loving home and living the American dream is tormented by the effects of what her mother went through. The second part of the book read by the author became a chore to listen/read. I did finish it, three stars for part 1. Thank you to #Netgalley for the audio version of this book.

Five year old Rita had to flee her home in Poland from the Nazis with her family and live in an attic for over 2 years. The family existed crowded in there silently, surviving on scraps of food. Rita and the family members that survived then spent years drifting through Europe before settling in America.
Bending Towards The Sun is harrowing, moving, thought provoking and poignant and will stay with me for a long time.
Whilst what happened during the war is something everyone knows I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know much of what happened to the Holocaust survivors afterwards. Learning that the trauma from it has been passed through the generations is heartbreaking.
Both Rita and her daughter Leslie are incredible women and I’m so grateful their story has been told.
The audio version of this is a great listen. Both narrators, including Rita’s daughter Leslie, have interesting, captivating voices that really tell the families story.

This was more than just another story about surviving the Holocaust in that it dwelt a majority of the time on the life after coming to America and how it impacts their relationships with their family and friends as survivors and how the trauma of it gets passed down to future generations.
Told from 3 generations perspective, Rita is a survivor, and she is deeply codependent on her daughter as a result. And her granddaughter suffers from the same insecurities and fears as a result.
The first half of the book was much more interesting and informative, while the second half kind of dragged on and at one point I was ready for it to be over.
In this re release, there is a chapter at the end that talks about how her life in the attic during the hologram is in a lot of ways like the current pandemic of the world and how she is coping with that while living in a nursing home and I found that quite interesting.
Thanks to netgalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Bending Towards the Sun is a memoir of Holocaust survivor Ruth Lurie and her daughter, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie. As a young girl, Ruth and part of her family survived the Holocaust by hiding in the attic of a Polish farmer, then spend several years wandering Europe, stateless, as they wait for a country that will accept them. These formative years had lifelong impacts on Ruth, both physically and emotionally. The effects of the Holocaust effect not just Ruth but also her daughter and granddaughter. As a child, Leslie Gilbelrt-Lurie always felt it was necessary to please her mother. She also had separation anxiety when she went away to camp and often thought of worst case scenarios. As an adult, Leslie learns about the multigenerational impact of the Holocaust on the descendents of survivors and sees its truth in her own family. Ruth and Leslie decided to write this book to get Ruth's experiences written down and hopefully help her find some closure.

I think it is so important to get real life stories like Ruth's written down while we still can. We have all heard of Anne Frank and her family hiding from the Nazis, but I had not heard of a family successfully hiding through the end of the war. I am so glad that Ruth and part of her family were able to survive. I had heard of the emotional trauma of the Holocaust passing on through DNA to the children of survivors, but this was the first actual case I have read about. I appreciated that this story focused on life after the Holocaust, as opposed to giving a brief summary in an epilogue. Ruth and Laurie do the narration of the audiobook themselves, which really added to Ruth's part of the story. I did not care for Laurie's narration as much; at times, her voice seemed flat. I definitely recommend this book for those who want to learn not just about the Holocaust but about the lasting effects on its survivors.

Posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3800179339?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
I really enjoyed the story of Rita. Her holocaust story is one of struggle and heartache. She experienced so much at a young age and this affected her entire life. I was very interested in reading this book because I have read about the children of Holocaust survivors being affected by their parent's experiences. Rita spent her young life hiding from the Nazi's in an attic. It was a bit like the story of Anne Frank except for Rita's hiding was not as planned out as The Franks. She experienced hunger, death and anxiety at a very young age. After her experiences in the attic, she experiences a lack of love and motherly nuturing throughout her young life. This affects her own adult life and her mental state. Rita makes it her goal to be the best mother that she can be. Many holocaust survivors were unable to cope with their experiences but Rita makes it a point to give her children the best life.

Leslie, Rita's daughter, tells the second part of the story. I was not a fan of her story. She came off as unsatified with the way her mother raisied her. However, Rita tried her hardest to give Leslie the best life possible. It was very hard for me to get through Leslie's part of the book without feeling annoyed by Leslie's complaints.

Overall, this memoir was not my favorite. I have read a number of Holocaust memoirs and this one did not stick out to me. Once again, I loved Rita's story and I wish the story would have focused mostly on her experiences and gone a bit more in depth with her time in Nazi-occupied Poland.