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Raven Mother: War, Family and Inheritance, a memoir
In Raven Mother, Jane Messer weaves together her Jewish family’s compelling and tragic story – stretching back and forth between Berlin, Israel, Palestine, Melbourne and Sydney.
Messer retraces the steps of her Jewish grandmother Bella, as she tries to understand her life in pre-war Berlin and Mandate Palestine, to post-war Melbourne where she didn’t survive the surviving, and why her father was abandoned in England before the war. In this powerful, beautifully written and insightful book, Messer spends time in Berlin, Israel and Palestine and grapples with the effects of nationalism, both historical and contemporary. Along the way, she speaks with historians, activists, refugees and scholars, and constantly to her beloved father.
Raven Mother is a powerful work of memoir and history, essential to understanding the impacts of the Holocaust and Jewish identity in the post–World War II era. Blending the personal and the historical with lyrical precision, Messer sweeps from the grand scale of global events to the intimate struggles of family and memory.
'A plain-speaking, remarkable, deeply affecting book.' ROBERT DESSAIX
'In seeking the truth about her grandmother, Messer uncovers far more than a family history.' MAJEDA AWAWDEH
‘A beautifully etched excursion through muddied layers of history and memories of place, Raven Mother is an unexpected homage to the fault lines of family.’ ANDREA DURBACH
'A brilliant book for our times that illustrates the sorrows and resilience of life.' SUSAN JOHNSON
'Wise, poignant and beautiful. This is a book that matters.' MALCOLM KNOX
Messer retraces the steps of her Jewish grandmother Bella, as she tries to understand her life in pre-war Berlin and Mandate Palestine, to post-war Melbourne where she didn’t survive the surviving, and why her father was abandoned in England before the war. In this powerful, beautifully written and insightful book, Messer spends time in Berlin, Israel and Palestine and grapples with the effects of nationalism, both historical and contemporary. Along the way, she speaks with historians, activists, refugees and scholars, and constantly to her beloved father.
Raven Mother is a powerful work of memoir and history, essential to understanding the impacts of the Holocaust and Jewish identity in the post–World War II era. Blending the personal and the historical with lyrical precision, Messer sweeps from the grand scale of global events to the intimate struggles of family and memory.
'A plain-speaking, remarkable, deeply affecting book.' ROBERT DESSAIX
'In seeking the truth about her grandmother, Messer uncovers far more than a family history.' MAJEDA AWAWDEH
‘A beautifully etched excursion through muddied layers of history and memories of place, Raven Mother is an unexpected homage to the fault lines of family.’ ANDREA DURBACH
'A brilliant book for our times that illustrates the sorrows and resilience of life.' SUSAN JOHNSON
'Wise, poignant and beautiful. This is a book that matters.' MALCOLM KNOX
288 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2026
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Jane Messer
7 books19 followersI write fiction and creative nonfiction—novels, memoir, radio plays, and short stories.
My latest book, Raven Mother: War, Family and Inheritance (NewSouth Publishing, 2026), is a memoir that traces the entanglements of history, inheritance, and family across generations.
I’m a devoted reader of Australian and international literature, especially writing in translation, alongside a long-standing love of genre—YA, speculative fiction, and fantasy.
Teaching writing has been a central part of my life. I’ve worked with writers since the early 1990s, including many years leading Creative Writing at Macquarie University. I now mentor writers one-on-one and run masterclasses.
In 2025, I founded StorySALOON—a live show and podcast bringing Australian short stories to the stage, performed by leading actors and shared with new audiences.
I hope to be writing more novels in the future: my last was Hopscotch (Picador, 2015). In recent years, alongside Raven Mother, I’ve been writing short stories— I’m sure that another novel will come knocking eventually!
I live in Sydney, on Gadigal land.
She/her
My latest book, Raven Mother: War, Family and Inheritance (NewSouth Publishing, 2026), is a memoir that traces the entanglements of history, inheritance, and family across generations.
I’m a devoted reader of Australian and international literature, especially writing in translation, alongside a long-standing love of genre—YA, speculative fiction, and fantasy.
Teaching writing has been a central part of my life. I’ve worked with writers since the early 1990s, including many years leading Creative Writing at Macquarie University. I now mentor writers one-on-one and run masterclasses.
In 2025, I founded StorySALOON—a live show and podcast bringing Australian short stories to the stage, performed by leading actors and shared with new audiences.
I hope to be writing more novels in the future: my last was Hopscotch (Picador, 2015). In recent years, alongside Raven Mother, I’ve been writing short stories— I’m sure that another novel will come knocking eventually!
I live in Sydney, on Gadigal land.
She/her
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March 15, 2026
Jane Messer goes hunting for clues about her dead grandmother to find out whether she really abandoned her son (Messer's father) because she didn't love him. She finds the answer after a long and fascinating search through history and over five countries. A moving and unputdownable story.
Displaying 1 of 1 review