What do you think?
Rate this book
Sieviete dzintarā: Kara un trimdas radīto traumu dziedēšana
Witnesses to rape, torture, and executions, Agate Nesaule and her family survived against all odds in World War II Europe to emmigrate to America where Agate could receive the education her mother had always dreamed of. But the trauma of war was not so easily buried. For years she has been secretly tormented by memories. Now, in this 1995 American Book Award winner, she finally tells her powerful story.
307 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
71 people are currently reading
770 people want to read
About the author
Agate Nesaule
4 books14 followersAgate Nesaule, born in 1938, Riga, Lativa, experienced the turmoil of WWII in Germany. After five years in displaced persons' camps, she came to the United States in 1950 and taught herself English by reading "Gone With The Wind." She received a BA, graduating summa cum laude, and her MA in English, both from the University of Indiana-Bloomington. In 1972, Nesaule earned her PhD in 20th century British and American Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she received numerous awards: Saunders Award for Excellence for Teaching in the Humanities, College of Letters & Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award, Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award. Pioneering in Women's Studies, she developed interdisciplinary and literature courses still regularly taught at the UW-Whitewater.
In addition to academic articles (Critique, Doris Lessing Newsletter, Feminist Literary Criticism, World Literature Written in English), she has published literary essays in Latvian and English (Universitas; Northwest Review; Iris: A Journal of Women; Latvijas Sievietes, Map of Hope; An International Anthology of Women's Writing on Human Rights; Poets and Writers Magazine).
Her memoir "A Woman in Amber: Healing the Trauma of War and Exile" (Soho Press 1995; Penguin 1996) received an American Book Award in 1996 and was named an Outstanding Achievement by the Wisconsin Library Association. It has been translated into six languages and served as the basis of several dramatic productions (Whole Arts Theater of Michigan, 700th Anniversary celebration of the founding of Riga in Latvia) and is still in print.
Nesaule's novel "In Love with Jerzy Kosinski" was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2009.
Her recently-published novel "Lost Midsummers: A Novel of Women's Friendship in Exile" was translated into Latvian and published in Latvia.
Agate Nesaule lives, writes, and gardens in Madison, Wisconsin.
As professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she received numerous awards: Saunders Award for Excellence for Teaching in the Humanities, College of Letters & Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award, Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award. Pioneering in Women's Studies, she developed interdisciplinary and literature courses still regularly taught at the UW-Whitewater.
In addition to academic articles (Critique, Doris Lessing Newsletter, Feminist Literary Criticism, World Literature Written in English), she has published literary essays in Latvian and English (Universitas; Northwest Review; Iris: A Journal of Women; Latvijas Sievietes, Map of Hope; An International Anthology of Women's Writing on Human Rights; Poets and Writers Magazine).
Her memoir "A Woman in Amber: Healing the Trauma of War and Exile" (Soho Press 1995; Penguin 1996) received an American Book Award in 1996 and was named an Outstanding Achievement by the Wisconsin Library Association. It has been translated into six languages and served as the basis of several dramatic productions (Whole Arts Theater of Michigan, 700th Anniversary celebration of the founding of Riga in Latvia) and is still in print.
Nesaule's novel "In Love with Jerzy Kosinski" was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2009.
Her recently-published novel "Lost Midsummers: A Novel of Women's Friendship in Exile" was translated into Latvian and published in Latvia.
Agate Nesaule lives, writes, and gardens in Madison, Wisconsin.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 27, 2021
Honest memoir of suffering makes painful reading
Suffering is not good for the soul, no matter what anyone tells you. There is nothing redemptive about it. The pain continues long after the actual experience is over. You do not become a better person because you have endured much, though perhaps your patience increases. No, we don't learn lessons from reading about others' suffering, even from such a well-written book as Nesaule's. Her life is not an example to anybody. Certainly not an inspiration. If you keep your eyes and ears open in life, and don't watch too much TV, you cannot but become aware of a huge amount of suffering and pain in the world. Whether abroad---during World War II, in Korea or Vietnam, or in the myriad wars and dictatorships of the late 20th century-or at home thanks to racism, poverty, substance abuse or simple human cruelty, we should be no strangers to the tragedy of life on earth.
A WOMAN IN AMBER describes a life broken by war, dislocation and brutality. Darkness surrounded Agate Nesaule at an early age, a gray cloud that did not begin to dissipate for nearly forty years. After early childhood happiness in Latvia, her homeland was occupied by Russians, then Germans, then Russians again. Obviously fearing the Russians more, when Soviet forces loomed on the horizon in 1944, the family fled to Germany, a refugee camp where Jews and Gypsies were sought out and taken away. Then came the raping, thieving Soviet forces, a dramatic escape to the British-occupied zone of Berlin, and five years of life in the DP camps. In 1950, the whole family, still miraculously together, emigrated to Indianapolis to begin the hard process of rebuilding a life in America. Life in the slums, little income, sub-standard housing, but at least the chance for education followed.
Nesaule made a disastrous marriage to a repulsive, manipulative slob of an American, perhaps the worst choice possible, and stayed with him for over twenty years. Through everything, she longed for a close, open relationship with others, especially her mother, but could not achieve it, thanks to her own unfortunate choices. At last, divorced, she reached some peace thanks to an understanding psychiatrist and a decent, loving man. For years, the writer could not distinguish normal authority and everyday forms of social control from stark, cruel, and arbitrary forms found in squalid refugee camps, under foreign military regimes, or in the hearts of parents in the most extreme situations. At times, Nesaule seems to take a perverse pleasure in her pain, but I felt that this emerges due to her extreme honesty, her attempt to plumb the depths of her feeling in order to arrange it on paper, and remove from her psyche all those feelings warped and twisted by war, by the desperation of her childhood.
The question a reader must ask, as does the author, is how many more Agates are there out there? In Bosnia, Kosovo, Palestine, Chechnya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Congo, Liberia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Timor, Colombia, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and dozens of other places ? A WOMAN IN AMBER is the moving story of a sensitive personality crushed by hardship and brutality, skewed to accept ruinous relationships because all self-confidence had been lost. The use of dreams to further self-understanding is extremely effective.
As a Jew, whose roots were totally obliterated by the Germans (and their local minions) during WW II, I was not inclined to be sympathetic at first to a Latvian woman whose family, after all, must have lived comfortably through that same time, but I soon relented as I read on because self-pity is entirely absent. Suffering is universal, even if human brotherhood, of which we dream, is nowhere in sight. Perhaps sharing that suffering is, indeed, the very brotherhood we seek. Bleak conclusion. Read this book, you can't fail to be moved by the honesty and lack of nationalistic drivel.
Suffering is not good for the soul, no matter what anyone tells you. There is nothing redemptive about it. The pain continues long after the actual experience is over. You do not become a better person because you have endured much, though perhaps your patience increases. No, we don't learn lessons from reading about others' suffering, even from such a well-written book as Nesaule's. Her life is not an example to anybody. Certainly not an inspiration. If you keep your eyes and ears open in life, and don't watch too much TV, you cannot but become aware of a huge amount of suffering and pain in the world. Whether abroad---during World War II, in Korea or Vietnam, or in the myriad wars and dictatorships of the late 20th century-or at home thanks to racism, poverty, substance abuse or simple human cruelty, we should be no strangers to the tragedy of life on earth.
A WOMAN IN AMBER describes a life broken by war, dislocation and brutality. Darkness surrounded Agate Nesaule at an early age, a gray cloud that did not begin to dissipate for nearly forty years. After early childhood happiness in Latvia, her homeland was occupied by Russians, then Germans, then Russians again. Obviously fearing the Russians more, when Soviet forces loomed on the horizon in 1944, the family fled to Germany, a refugee camp where Jews and Gypsies were sought out and taken away. Then came the raping, thieving Soviet forces, a dramatic escape to the British-occupied zone of Berlin, and five years of life in the DP camps. In 1950, the whole family, still miraculously together, emigrated to Indianapolis to begin the hard process of rebuilding a life in America. Life in the slums, little income, sub-standard housing, but at least the chance for education followed.
Nesaule made a disastrous marriage to a repulsive, manipulative slob of an American, perhaps the worst choice possible, and stayed with him for over twenty years. Through everything, she longed for a close, open relationship with others, especially her mother, but could not achieve it, thanks to her own unfortunate choices. At last, divorced, she reached some peace thanks to an understanding psychiatrist and a decent, loving man. For years, the writer could not distinguish normal authority and everyday forms of social control from stark, cruel, and arbitrary forms found in squalid refugee camps, under foreign military regimes, or in the hearts of parents in the most extreme situations. At times, Nesaule seems to take a perverse pleasure in her pain, but I felt that this emerges due to her extreme honesty, her attempt to plumb the depths of her feeling in order to arrange it on paper, and remove from her psyche all those feelings warped and twisted by war, by the desperation of her childhood.
The question a reader must ask, as does the author, is how many more Agates are there out there? In Bosnia, Kosovo, Palestine, Chechnya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Congo, Liberia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Timor, Colombia, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and dozens of other places ? A WOMAN IN AMBER is the moving story of a sensitive personality crushed by hardship and brutality, skewed to accept ruinous relationships because all self-confidence had been lost. The use of dreams to further self-understanding is extremely effective.
As a Jew, whose roots were totally obliterated by the Germans (and their local minions) during WW II, I was not inclined to be sympathetic at first to a Latvian woman whose family, after all, must have lived comfortably through that same time, but I soon relented as I read on because self-pity is entirely absent. Suffering is universal, even if human brotherhood, of which we dream, is nowhere in sight. Perhaps sharing that suffering is, indeed, the very brotherhood we seek. Bleak conclusion. Read this book, you can't fail to be moved by the honesty and lack of nationalistic drivel.
January 5, 2009
Being of Latvian heritage myself, perhaps it is impossible for me to read Nesaule's book as anyone else of a different heritage might. I have grown up on stories that are but variations on a theme to this one. My first language was Latvian, my first book was Latvian, my own first efforts in creative writing were in the Latvian language. Indeed, I have just participated in a literary reading of Latvian authors at the 11th Latvian Song Festival in Chicago, Illinois, where I had the honor of sharing the podium with Agate Nesaule. Is it possible for me to turn the pages of "Woman in Amber" without a deeply ingrained bias? Perhaps not. But I can say that these pages, these words, these memories, resonated profoundly with me. The war experience in many ways, however, is a suffering and a horror that crosses all lines of ethnicity, all borders of nationality. For this reason, I believe this is an important account for a far larger audience than just the Latvian reader; I am thrilled that this book was written first in English, then translated into, I believe, seven other languages.
Latvia is a tiny but beautiful country on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The Latvian language is one of the oldest still in existence. The country's history is one of the most war-torn and ravaged of any country anywhere - although it has existed for many, many centuries, Latvia has been independent, free of occupation by other armies, for only a wink in time. If this nation can be proud of anything, it can be proud of its ability to survive even the cruelest and most oppressive conditions. This memoir, "Woman in Amber," opens a small window of light shed on how such a people survive. Even more precisely, it gives an account of how a very young girl can survive - losing her home, losing her family, conditions of hunger, rape, pillage, exile, and the terrifying experience of being a stranger in an immense and completely alien country where the culture and language are all new and strange. Most memoirs of war and battlefields are written by men. It is particularly interesting to read a different kind of account, from the perspective of a woman. If soldiers on a battlefield suffer, there is a quieter, less evident suffering that happens behind the front lines, and this memoir reveals, painfully and movingly, the no less violent and scarring battles that happen there.
Agate Nesaule's memoir is a couragous sharing of the experiences she endured - not just during World War II, but for many years following the war. Long after the sounds of war have died down, the wounds are still bloodied and pulsating with pain. Healing can often take a lifetime. My respect to this author for sharing her experience, and my hope that it has offered her healing. This is a book I am proud to recommend to both my Latvian friends as well as my non-Latvian friends.
Latvia is a tiny but beautiful country on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The Latvian language is one of the oldest still in existence. The country's history is one of the most war-torn and ravaged of any country anywhere - although it has existed for many, many centuries, Latvia has been independent, free of occupation by other armies, for only a wink in time. If this nation can be proud of anything, it can be proud of its ability to survive even the cruelest and most oppressive conditions. This memoir, "Woman in Amber," opens a small window of light shed on how such a people survive. Even more precisely, it gives an account of how a very young girl can survive - losing her home, losing her family, conditions of hunger, rape, pillage, exile, and the terrifying experience of being a stranger in an immense and completely alien country where the culture and language are all new and strange. Most memoirs of war and battlefields are written by men. It is particularly interesting to read a different kind of account, from the perspective of a woman. If soldiers on a battlefield suffer, there is a quieter, less evident suffering that happens behind the front lines, and this memoir reveals, painfully and movingly, the no less violent and scarring battles that happen there.
Agate Nesaule's memoir is a couragous sharing of the experiences she endured - not just during World War II, but for many years following the war. Long after the sounds of war have died down, the wounds are still bloodied and pulsating with pain. Healing can often take a lifetime. My respect to this author for sharing her experience, and my hope that it has offered her healing. This is a book I am proud to recommend to both my Latvian friends as well as my non-Latvian friends.
April 5, 2014
This book was both intriguing and terrifying to read. I wanted to look away when she recalls horrific memories of rape, suicide, and brutal murder but realized she wasn't able to, so why should I? It was a humbly written story from a girl who's self-worth and respect was stripped from her because of a war that crept in and traumatized her life. But sympathy for a small girl who had to witness more then any seven year old should. And much respect for her bravery in writing it down for the rest of us to learn from.
October 12, 2014
Others have argued the authenticity of Ms. Nesaule's account of life in the concentration camps; indeed, the author herself voices her own uncertainty of her story, confessing to much she has forgotten. Still, it is a story worth reading. American born, I've never found myself, or even thought to imagine myself, in a situation where I have feared for my life and the lives of my family.
Ms. Nesaule's account, which she manages to relate with frank detachment, is disturbing. Who among us, in America, can understand how it feels to be kept in a basement, never knowing when it might be our turn to be taken behind the partition to be raped, or taken outside to be lined up to be shot? To be cuffed or threatened for whispering to a sibling?
During her ordeal, the young Agate learns the futility of prayer, that what doesn't kill you doesn't make you stronger, and that wounds such as those she endured never heal; although by the end of the book, after a failed long-term marriage left her the victim, she finds a semblance of peace.
Despite its obvious flaws-among others, Ms. Nesaule's son Boris is virtually non-existent and her portrayal of her husband Joe is far too one-dimensional... his dialogue is stilted and comprised of only a few phrases, which she uses time and time again-perhaps these are all she recalls after two decades of emotional abuse-A Woman In Amber is a compelling read. Whether more fiction than fact is immaterial. Ms. Nesaule's simple message is this: her suffering, as is the suffering of all men and women since the dawn of civilization, is but a single page in the history of mankind. How sad that man cannot get along with himself, sadder still that he keeps making the same mistakes over and over again and never learns.
Recommended.
Ms. Nesaule's account, which she manages to relate with frank detachment, is disturbing. Who among us, in America, can understand how it feels to be kept in a basement, never knowing when it might be our turn to be taken behind the partition to be raped, or taken outside to be lined up to be shot? To be cuffed or threatened for whispering to a sibling?
During her ordeal, the young Agate learns the futility of prayer, that what doesn't kill you doesn't make you stronger, and that wounds such as those she endured never heal; although by the end of the book, after a failed long-term marriage left her the victim, she finds a semblance of peace.
Despite its obvious flaws-among others, Ms. Nesaule's son Boris is virtually non-existent and her portrayal of her husband Joe is far too one-dimensional... his dialogue is stilted and comprised of only a few phrases, which she uses time and time again-perhaps these are all she recalls after two decades of emotional abuse-A Woman In Amber is a compelling read. Whether more fiction than fact is immaterial. Ms. Nesaule's simple message is this: her suffering, as is the suffering of all men and women since the dawn of civilization, is but a single page in the history of mankind. How sad that man cannot get along with himself, sadder still that he keeps making the same mistakes over and over again and never learns.
Recommended.
February 28, 2016
Deeply moving. I found such strength in the author's story. As the child of a Latvian DP who came to the US at the age of 4, I have recently developed an interest in my family's history. I also discovered compassion and patience for the yet unhealed parts of me and my family that I believe are tied to war-time trauma.
March 5, 2020
If you want to read what war is really like, read this. Yes, it is about a Latvian woman in WW2 who lived in DP (displaced persons) camps like my mother did. But it would still hold true today in war-torn countries. It covers many emotions: disgust, hate, horror, pain, love, relief, joy, accomplishment, fear and many many more. I wish I could meet the author personally to talk with her. The book really moved me.
September 24, 2007
In writing, the author purges herself of the traumatic stories she has carried with her since childhood. She also describes the experience of living with these memories as an adult. I found that her courage to heal by confronting these traumas and integrating them into her life was an inspiring example for recovering from trauma.
January 6, 2011
8/25/2001 - 8/10
A Woman in Amber is a very eye-opening story of a Latvian woman's experiences during WWII. It also dives into all the consequences and the aftermath of war. It was very interesting to see war from a different perspective like this.
Woman in Amber Review
A Woman in Amber is a very eye-opening story of a Latvian woman's experiences during WWII. It also dives into all the consequences and the aftermath of war. It was very interesting to see war from a different perspective like this.
Woman in Amber Review
March 6, 2014
Amazing. This book really touches you and makes you think. It's Agate Nesaule's story of leaving Latvia during WWII and going to Germany, where she, her family and the other Latvians face extreme violence and hunger. Nesaule then tells her story of going to America, which is also eye-opening in how immigrants were treated. Definitely worth reading.
April 15, 2012
She was one of college professors.
I loved it!
I loved it!
![Profile Image for Ieva Strazdiņa [mrs.lasitaja].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1659017528i%2F124023459._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
December 11, 2022
Agates Nesaules dzīvesstāsts ar uzsvaru uz laiku, kad Agate kopā ar vecākiem, māsu, omīti no Latvijas devās bēgļu gaitās, lai paglābtos no kara. Varētu domāt, ka aizbēgot no kara postītās un okupantu raustītās Latvijas un nokļūstot nosacītā drošībā Vācijā, ļaunākais ir aiz muguras, tomēr autores darbs parāda ko gluži citu – bads, nāves bailes, regulāra un brutāla izvarošana, slepkavošana un ņirgā��anās – šo visu piedzīvo arī bēgļu nometnēs un notikumi atstāj dziļas psiholoģiskas traumas, kuras lielākoties visu mūžu paliek kā sulojošas vātis, kuras tiek piesegtas ar kādu apģērba gabalu, jo ir kauns par to runāt, bailes būt nesaprastam. Lūk ar šo savu traumatisko pieredzi dalās autore. Kaut kā sabiedrībā iesakņojies, ka tiem, kas aizbēga un nokļuva lielajā iespēju zemē visas durvis bija vaļā, tomēr bēgļi savu došanos svešumā nekad nesauc par emigrāciju, bet par trimdu un, lai gan šiem ļaudīm nebija jābrien Sibīrijas sniegi, jo šāds liktenis viņus ar vislielāko varbūtību būtu piemeklējis paliekot Latvijā, Amerika nebija sapņu zeme. Ne visi amerikāņi uzņēma bēgļus atplestām rokām, lielākoties, viņi tos tur negribēja un pazemoja pie pirmās iespējas. Lielākajā vairumā gadījumu nokļūšana pie labklājības bija smags, nereti pazemojošs darbs sliktos apstākļos nevis Amerikas sapnis.
Līdz sirds dziļumiem jutu līdzi katrai autores rakstītajai rindai un taisni vai neticami, cik viegli lasījās grāmata, kas ietver neaprakstāmas šausmas. Turklāt šodien to visu, ko Agate kā bērns piedzīvoja kara laikā, lasīt ir sevišķi emocionāli, zinot to, kas notiek Ukrainā. Neticami, pilnīgi neticam, ka notikumi, ko apraksta Agate II Pasaules kara laikā ir norisinās 2022.gadā. Atkal krievu zaldāti un rauj vecām sievām protēzas no mutes, sakot, ka mājās mātei nav neviena zoba un šie lieti noderēs, atkal viņi badina, slepkavo, izvaro.
Šī grāmata man mājās bija jau teju divus gadus un kaut kā līdz tai netiku, bet nu es varu ieteikt, ja vien esi gatavs skaudram stāstam – nekavējies un izlasi!
Līdz sirds dziļumiem jutu līdzi katrai autores rakstītajai rindai un taisni vai neticami, cik viegli lasījās grāmata, kas ietver neaprakstāmas šausmas. Turklāt šodien to visu, ko Agate kā bērns piedzīvoja kara laikā, lasīt ir sevišķi emocionāli, zinot to, kas notiek Ukrainā. Neticami, pilnīgi neticam, ka notikumi, ko apraksta Agate II Pasaules kara laikā ir norisinās 2022.gadā. Atkal krievu zaldāti un rauj vecām sievām protēzas no mutes, sakot, ka mājās mātei nav neviena zoba un šie lieti noderēs, atkal viņi badina, slepkavo, izvaro.
Šī grāmata man mājās bija jau teju divus gadus un kaut kā līdz tai netiku, bet nu es varu ieteikt, ja vien esi gatavs skaudram stāstam – nekavējies un izlasi!
January 12, 2025
Izcila. Jāizlasa. Par kara un vardarbības ietekmi, rētām un to dziedēšanu. Kādas sekas uz katru no mums ir atstājis karš?
May 11, 2020
Deeply moving. I had to read only parts of it for study purposes, but couldn't stop reading until the very end.
May 19, 2014
"As our eyes grow accustomed to the dark, we tell each other bits of the plot, funny lines, odd facts. Some remain remarkably vivid. Perhaps the retina retains more than we think, perhaps some finds of light carry an afterlight" Agate Nesaule.
"It is easier for a camel to enter the gates of heaven than for a D.P. to get into the United States of America" Agate Nesaule.
"Our stories do not compete, nor do they cancel each other out. They make patterns around us, enter our dreams, gently bind us together. Sometimes I see us as two blond seven-year-olds, separated by a vast meadow, speaking different languages, but smiling at each other in recognition. Sometimes I dream that we are the twins in Twelfth Night, pale in their dark green velvet, but reunited after all. We have come safely past storms, we can hold hands, tell each other our stories and dreams" Agate Nesaule.
"I have been granted the gist of happiness in myself and with John, but others still suffer. In their own country and in exhile, so many Latvians, my sister and father among them, live brave. And I, too, still bear scars, I will have tgo continue to struggle with depression for the rest of my life. I understand my mother, love and forgive her, but the pain is real too. As for so many others, family relationships and historical events intersected to inflict wounds. Nor can I ever change the long aftermath of war, when I waited, rather than lived, the forty years spent in a motherless universe" Agate Nesaule.
"But then the sun touches the blossoms again. We have to believe that dreams are meaningful, we have to believe that even the briefest human connections can heal. Otherwise life is unbearable" Agate Nesaule.
"It is easier for a camel to enter the gates of heaven than for a D.P. to get into the United States of America" Agate Nesaule.
"Our stories do not compete, nor do they cancel each other out. They make patterns around us, enter our dreams, gently bind us together. Sometimes I see us as two blond seven-year-olds, separated by a vast meadow, speaking different languages, but smiling at each other in recognition. Sometimes I dream that we are the twins in Twelfth Night, pale in their dark green velvet, but reunited after all. We have come safely past storms, we can hold hands, tell each other our stories and dreams" Agate Nesaule.
"I have been granted the gist of happiness in myself and with John, but others still suffer. In their own country and in exhile, so many Latvians, my sister and father among them, live brave. And I, too, still bear scars, I will have tgo continue to struggle with depression for the rest of my life. I understand my mother, love and forgive her, but the pain is real too. As for so many others, family relationships and historical events intersected to inflict wounds. Nor can I ever change the long aftermath of war, when I waited, rather than lived, the forty years spent in a motherless universe" Agate Nesaule.
"But then the sun touches the blossoms again. We have to believe that dreams are meaningful, we have to believe that even the briefest human connections can heal. Otherwise life is unbearable" Agate Nesaule.
August 27, 2010
I don't read many memoirs. I find that a lot of times they are filled with people trying to be right, instead of trying to be true. This memoir, though, is so powerful. I wish there were more like it. Of World War Two, people, and rightly so, most often think of the Holocaust. I think what is wrong is that they don't think beyond that, they don't realize all the others who suffered. So often, these were people displaced by the constant border shifts, from Nazi takeover to abandonment, to Russian or British or American occupation. This book brings to light those displaced persons, and really makes the reader think, not only about displaced persons from WWII, but also about thousands who are displaced by all wars, then and now.
I think the book speaks to an even broader truth, about the impact of trauma in one's childhood. Many of Agate's Latvian friends in America, who lived through the war and occupation in Europe, never truly recover. Her mother never recovered from fleeing the Communists in Russia during the Revolution. Her husband never recovered from feeling abandoned and unloved. What the author does here, I think, is... maybe not recovers. Maybe that's the wrong word. But she takes a step in dealing with her trauma, in facing it head on. I think that is so brave of her. And the audience benefits by reading such a beautiful book. True, it has horrors, but the end if beautiful. I hope more follow in this author's footsteps, and tell their stories from World War II all the way through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
I think the book speaks to an even broader truth, about the impact of trauma in one's childhood. Many of Agate's Latvian friends in America, who lived through the war and occupation in Europe, never truly recover. Her mother never recovered from fleeing the Communists in Russia during the Revolution. Her husband never recovered from feeling abandoned and unloved. What the author does here, I think, is... maybe not recovers. Maybe that's the wrong word. But she takes a step in dealing with her trauma, in facing it head on. I think that is so brave of her. And the audience benefits by reading such a beautiful book. True, it has horrors, but the end if beautiful. I hope more follow in this author's footsteps, and tell their stories from World War II all the way through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
December 28, 2013
Full disclosure: the author is a friend/client of mine who gave me a copy of her book. But I liked it so much I then bought a second copy from her for my mother for Christmas!
It's a great book that is in two parts: partly about the relatively unknown (compared to the Jews in the Holocaust) struggles a Christian family in a defenseless country that's being shuffled between dictators - first Nazis, then Communists, and then how they adapt to the USA after emigrating.
The other interwoven half is the author's relationship with her mother and husband and how the war and occupation of Latvia affected them.
The most interesting part of the book for me is how her childhood directly impacted her feelings of self-worth, giving me, a man, new insight as to why emotionally or physically battered women might stay with abusive husbands because they feel like that is what is due to them or because the abusive man is a strong protector who despite his faults will protect her from harm. I've read books that contain abused women, but never a book in which the root causes of the issue are so completely laid out.
Highly recommended for anyone who's a student of 20th century history or women's issues.
It's a great book that is in two parts: partly about the relatively unknown (compared to the Jews in the Holocaust) struggles a Christian family in a defenseless country that's being shuffled between dictators - first Nazis, then Communists, and then how they adapt to the USA after emigrating.
The other interwoven half is the author's relationship with her mother and husband and how the war and occupation of Latvia affected them.
The most interesting part of the book for me is how her childhood directly impacted her feelings of self-worth, giving me, a man, new insight as to why emotionally or physically battered women might stay with abusive husbands because they feel like that is what is due to them or because the abusive man is a strong protector who despite his faults will protect her from harm. I've read books that contain abused women, but never a book in which the root causes of the issue are so completely laid out.
Highly recommended for anyone who's a student of 20th century history or women's issues.
August 9, 2011
When this book was first published in 1995, I was one of the first to get a copy and read it. This book was about my people, their trials and tribulations, losses and grief before, during and after World War ll. So much had been written about the horrors of the Holocaust and how the Jews had suffered, but not much literature was available about other atrocities inflicted on other peoples. Some of those are written about in this book, and how one small country and it's inhabitants suffered. These displaced people overcame their horrors and were flung, like seeds, to the far reaches of the world, where, coming from the strong stock they do, they slowly re-built their lives and started afresh. I commend and thank Agate Nesaule, now a Wisconsin professor, for telling her story of her trials and hardships. So many of us "displaced people" have similar stories, but not the ability to write about them. She became the voice of so many of us. Obviously, I recommend this book highly, if you want to know more about World War ll and it's aftermath and how countries and people you may have not heard of, suffered.
June 15, 2008
I have read this book twice in the last ten years. Initially I found it in a bookstore and was compelled to read it. Later, I got my reading group to read it...... It is a profound, excruciating memoir of life as a refugee girl, amongst refugee women, always at the mercy - or lack of - of the soldiers they encountered. The memoir clearly that took a huge amount of personal willpower to write. Willpower for which the protagonist must be applauded. Human cruelty, the relisience needed to survive. What is 'survival'? Physical, mental, emotional.... all so different. WWII Latvia or Lithuania.
My sister in law and her family experienced much of the same as her parents struggled to get her and her younger sister out of Vilnias before the Russians invaded... Russians one night, Germans the next, back and forth between the waring factions, cleaning out one neighborhood after another as they alternately raped pillaged and burned their ways through the city..... then the terrible fears of the unknown life as refugees. Amazing stories.
My sister in law and her family experienced much of the same as her parents struggled to get her and her younger sister out of Vilnias before the Russians invaded... Russians one night, Germans the next, back and forth between the waring factions, cleaning out one neighborhood after another as they alternately raped pillaged and burned their ways through the city..... then the terrible fears of the unknown life as refugees. Amazing stories.
April 26, 2009
I read this book decades ago, and again about 6 years ago. It is a painful, brutal memoir of being a little girl refugee during WWII... lt is an excruciating tale for the Latvian narrator to tell as she was raised 'not to talk about such things', so she held all of this hell inside herself for 40 or so years, feeling that somehow she was responsible for her horrible fate... It is a dreadful and agonizing memoir with so much to say about the foul horror of war. It is a book, my relative, a lithuanian refuge during the same period and of the same age...., well, she will never speak of those memories and she will not read others either, even if it might be catharctic. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL OF US.
December 26, 2013
think perhaps that I have owned this book for quite some time and if I have read it before, I don t remember it I find this highly unlikely. At any rate, I am honored to have read it now. A Woman in Amber by Agate Nesaule is a startling memoir of the author s childhood experiences during the Russian and German occupation of her homeland of Latvia. While the horrors of the war were bad enough in her own country, her Lutheran father and mother, along with other family members, were forced to flee from the competing armies. Their journey was remarkable in complexity and perhaps luck.[return]In depth review at NeverForgetResources
August 16, 2011
Wow! This one is rather difficult to read and just leaves you numb; so much raw pain. I can't recall reading such a wrenching and personalized account of the total and lingering devastation of war, especially as directly related to women. This is something much more poignant than a simple war memoir (if any true recollection of a life can ever be 'simple'), it is a memorial to suffering, an indictment of humanity. This beautifully written account of guilt, grief, trauma, abuse, and lives twisted by war gives some much-needed insight into the rarely discussed emotional world of post-war immigrants to the United States.
This book needs to be included on high school and university reading lists.
This book needs to be included on high school and university reading lists.
July 10, 2009
I liked the NY Times book review that said, "Searing...stunning...a story both heroic and achingly humble." Nesual wrote her memoir without research or collaboration and writes in her author's note that although she recognizes that memory is itself unreliable, she is compelled to write what she remembers. As a child she longs for happiness for and from her mother and finds she is not able to give it to her own child, when it is asked. Nesaule writes from the heart!! Guest at the Book festival 2009.
April 12, 2008
This is the 2nd time that I have read this very intimate story of a little girl, her family, WWII, the Nazis, the Russians, survival. The 1st time was at my local library book gathering, where the author came to speak. What a miracle that someone could survive what she had survived, and now she is a beautiful, open, smiling older woman.
Just finished it the second time, and recommend it with lots of stars! Check out the reviews from the late '90s.
Just finished it the second time, and recommend it with lots of stars! Check out the reviews from the late '90s.
July 13, 2008
Autobiography of woman living through WWII in Latvia. Insight into what war means to civilians -especially woman. The story from a first person perspective stayed focused on her experiences communicating the horror of war without pedagogy or manipulation of our emotions. We see not only the immediate of effects of her experiences, but how those experiences follow her and others throughout their lives.
September 15, 2015
When you think no one can understand what you've been through, you're wrong. Maybe not in your immediate circle of acquaintances, but in history, there have been others who have had life as horrific as you have. If you are literate you can find others. You'll never forget, but if you are lucky you can find peace. In that peace, maybe you'll write your story and in that way leave behind a path to follow for those who come behind you.
Thank you Agate Nesaule
Thank you Agate Nesaule
January 1, 2019
Having a Parent that fled from Latvia to (eventually) the States this book was healing. It answers so many of the questions I had about what happened to displaced persons. It was an eye opening, cathartic experience to read this gem. It isn't easy reading and it can be disturbing. It's definitely not a kids book but probably more high school aged simply because of the subject matter. There are violent war-time crimes described in this book so it should be shared with care.
May 4, 2020
The back cover has a review by Tim O'Brien which perfectly sums up the book: "A heartbreaking yet inspiring memoir of tragedy and healing, of war and recovery, of physical dislocation and psychological relocation...a beautifully told story." Certainly not a light read, sometimes not an enjoyable read, but a book I am glad to have seen someone reading on a plane and added to my list.
January 25, 2020
This book meant a lot to me since my grandparents were also immigrants from Latvia during WWII. It helped me understand what they went through going to a displaced persons camp. The book helps you understand survivor’s guilt, depression, and the profound impacts of war on a person’s life. Hard to read but moving story
November 17, 2014
Šo grāmatu es sāku lasīt atslodzei no visa fantasy un attapos nevarot nolikt malā un raudam kā mazs bērns. Un nav daudz grāmatu kas spēj mani saraudināt. Latviešu skarbā pagātne un milža pacietība cīnoties dzīvē uz priekšu. Kaut kas, ko apbrīnošu vienmēr.
February 3, 2014
"I have uncertainties about this story....But I have not been able to compare my recollections with others. No one in my family want to talk about the war; they may have silent images, but they tell no stories."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews