Description

A thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed family memoir Meryl Franks journey to seekthetruth about a beloved and revolutionary cousin a celebrated actress in Vilna before World War II and to answer the question ofhow the next generation should honor the memory of the Holocaust

As a child Meryl Frank wasthechosen inheritor of family remembrance Her aunt Mollie a formidable and cultured woman insisted that Meryl never forget whothey were wherethey came from and thehate that nearly destroyedthem Over long afternoons Mollie told her about the citythetheater and above all else Meryls cousintheradiant Franya Winter Franya wastheleading light of Vilnas Yiddishtheater a remarkable and precocious woman who cast offtherestrictions of her Hasidic family and community to play roles as prostitutes and bellhops lovers and nuns Yetthere was one thing her aunt Mollie would never tell Meryl how Franya died Before Mollie passed away she gave Meryl a Yiddish book containing the terrible answer but forbade her to read it And for years Meryl obeyed

Unearthed is the story of Meryls search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance Through archives across four continents by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries and eventually guided bytheshocking truth recorded inthepages ofthe forbidden book Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousinher beauty and her tragedy Meryls search reveals a lost world destroyed by hatred illuminating the cultural haven of Vilna and its resistance during World War II As she seeks to find her lost family legacy Meryl looks for answers to the questions that have defined her life what is our duty to the past How do we honor such memories while keeping them from consuming us And what do we teach our children about tragedy