About the In-Person Event

“Never Shall I Forget” – Elie Wiesel

As Elie Wiesel so poignantly reminds us, never shall we forget. Yet what happened to the children of the Holocaust who were separated from their parents in WWII at such a young age; was it possible for them to remember?

We invite you to meet Jewish Book Award Finalist Jennifer Rosner at a private San Diego residence as she discusses Once We Were Home, her powerful novel based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II.

Your Adventure includes an assortment of delectable Jewish pastries, tea, a copy of Once We Were Home to be signed at the event, tax, book presentation, and the opportunity to engage with Jennifer live and in-person in an intimate setting.

Registration

Register below for the in-person event, and the address to the private San Diego residence will be provided 3 days prior to the event via email. Spaces are limited, so register soon to guarantee your spot.

About the Author and Book

Jennifer Rosner is the author of the novels Once We Were Home and The Yellow Bird Sings, both finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. She is also author of the memoir, If a Tree Falls: a Family’s Quest to Hear and Be Heard, and the children’s book, The Mitten String, a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable.

Jennifer’s books have been translated into a dozen languages. Her short writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Times of Israel, The Massachusetts Review, The Forward, and elsewhere. In addition to writing, Jennifer has taught philosophy. She earned her B.A. from Columbia University and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her family.

Her most recent novel, Once We Were Home, is based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II. Ana will never forget her mother’s face when she and her baby brother, Oskar, were sent out of their Polish ghetto and into the arms of a Christian friend. For Oskar, though, their new family is the only one he remembers. When a woman from a Jewish reclamation organization seizes them, believing she has their best interest at heart, Ana sees an opportunity to reconnect with her roots, while Oskar sees only the loss of the home he loves.

Roger grows up in a monastery in France, inventing stories and trading riddles with his best friend in a life of quiet concealment. When a relative seeks to retrieve him, the Church steals him across the Pyrenees before relinquishing him to family in Jerusalem. Renata, a post-graduate student in archaeology, has spent her life unearthing secrets from the past–except for her own. After her mother’s death, Renata’s grief is entwined with all the questions her mother left unanswered, including why they fled Germany so quickly when Renata was a little girl.

Two decades later, they are each building lives for themselves, trying to move on from the trauma and loss that haunts them. But as their stories converge in Israel, in unexpected ways, they must each ask where and to whom they truly belong.

Beautifully evocative and tender, filled with both luminosity and anguish, Once We Were Home reveals a little-known history. Based on the true stories of children stolen during wartime, this heart-wrenching novel raises questions of complicity and responsibility, belonging and identity, good intentions and unforeseen consequences, as it confronts what it really means to find home.

To schedule a book club visit with Jennifer or any of our authors on NovelNetwork:

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