But You Did Not Come Back

In just 100 pages, Loridan-Ivens goes to the heart of father-daughter relations; the result is a masterpiece of restraint and luminous precision . . . But You Did Not Come Back is a human chronicle of rare power.

But You Did Not Come Back is a letter of a lifetime. It is profound, compelling, effortless, searing. Almost every sentence is a distillation of the human capacity for suffering and survival. It is written in sinewy, spare prose that has an intensity of poetry . . . That she has been impelled to write such a difficult, discerning and unputdownable testimony is an acute reminder of the time in which we live, and a reflection of her enduring spirit.

This . . . book, at turns poetic, raw, beautiful and painful, takes the form of a love letter to him by his daughter . . . It would be tempting to say that her eloquent, heartbreaking testimony could sway hate-addled minds. Tempting, but it would be disrespectful to her honesty, to the enormity of what she experienced. Just read it.

This is a haunting and beautiful book, valuable not only for the first-hand experience of the worst atrocity in living history, but also for its illustration of the long-term effects of trauma, the persistence of anti-Semitism and the enduring power of love.

Devastating . . . Loridan-Ivens writes in a plain, conversational style . . . that flows as memory does, observation and recollection in balance. It can be read at a sitting; and then asks to be read again. For even at this distance, when we think we know what happened, and what history tells us, the truth, as seen through Marceline's clear-eyed gaze, astonishes and horrifies . . . There is kindness, too, and courage in this book.

Very occasionally a book comes along that demands to be published. A book about pain and suffering, about cruelty and humanity, about grief and love. But You Did Not Come Back is an exquisitely written, beautifully translated and unwaveringly honest testimony; a story we will all do well never to forget.