Book Review :: Also Here by Brooke Randel

Review by Eleanor J. Bader

When Brooke Randel was in her early 20s, her grandmother, Golda Indig, known as Bubbie, called her and suggested that she write about her life: “What happened in the war…You know, a young girl in the camps.” The request was jarring since Randel’s family had generally sidestepped discussions of the Holocaust, instead fixating on the present, with food, family, and holiday celebrations taking center stage. But Randel was intrigued and began interviewing Bubbie.

Surprisingly, the process was more difficult than she expected, for not only was Bubbie’s story filled with vague and random anecdotes, but it unfolded in fits-and-starts that were complicated by her illiteracy, easy distractibility, and memory gaps. Nonetheless, Also Here: Love, Literacy, and the Legacy of the Holocaust chronicles Bubbie’s traumatic deportation to Auschwitz as a 13-year-old and describes her transfer to Bergen-Belsen before being liberated by American soldiers; her eventual emigration to the US adds a riveting dimension to Bubbie’s tale.

In addition, the book veers into Randel’s own story – with details about her nine-year search for data to support Bubbie’s account – that are well-woven into the memoir. This makes Also Here unusual, as much about writing and research as it is about a love-filled but fraught inter-generational relationship. An emotionally resonant and compelling debut.

Also Here: Love, Literacy, and the Legacy of the Holocaust by Brooke Randel, Tortoise Books, December 2024 (pre-order available).

Reviewer bio: Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn, NY-based journalist who writes about books and domestic social issues for Truthout, Rain Taxi, The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Indypendent.