Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy with author Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Thursday, September 15
7:00-9:00pm
(In person and on Zoom. Register for the Zoom link – See above.)
Co-Sponsored by Jewish Women’s Archive, part of their ‘Quarantine(ish) Book Talks’ series
7-8 Book Signing and Schmoozing
8-9 Book Talk and Q&A
Pogrebin grew up in a family of secrets. Too many things judged shame-worthy. Too many truths covered up, embellished, repackaged. As a child, she thought secrecy and hiddenness were quintessentially Jewish: Leah hiding behind a veil so Jacob could think his bride was Rachel; hidden Conversos in Spain; Anne Frank hiding in the Annex.
Her parents hid behind masks rather than show their imperfections. Perfect American Jews weren’t supposed to have miserable marriages, secret divorces, estranged brothers, an abandoned child, alcohol problems, gay kids, missing uncles, an aunt who claimed to be barren but had two abortions, or a multiply-challenged cousin whose condition might cast doubt on the marriageability of the other cousins.
Pogrebin’s relatives argued out loud about politics but whispered about who had “the C-word;” and the fact that her mother’s kitchen was kosher but she secretly fed Pogrebin bacon for her health. When Pogrebin learned her parents’ biggest secret about their prior lives — it shook her world.
Purchase Shanda through TBZ and JWA and save! RSVP and purchase HERE.