“The Spiral Shell: A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II” by Sandell Morse
Sandell Morse weaves together various threads-her parents’ mixed views on acknowledging her Jewishness away from their home, and how that ambivalence became a part of her childhood and adulthood-the veneer the French residents in Auvillar had painted over their memories-and the buried fate of Jewish prisoners, resisters and survivors. Through her solid research, she developed friendships that peeled away some of the veneer and allowed the silenced voices of the past to speak through her writing. With sensitivity, anger and love she tells the stories that were hidden and that will now be visible and heard. We need more truthtellers like this author.