An Unfinished Portrait: A Journey Around My Mother - Hardcover

Miriam Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1783341238 ISBN 13: 9781783341238

Publisher: Gibson Square Books Ltd, 2017

Synopsis

A picture is worth a thousand words, or in Miriam Frank's case a picture can tell a thousand stories. Throughout her childhood, the only constant things in her life were her mother Kate and flight from totalitarian regimes from Spain, Vichy-France to Casablanca and onwards. Pictures of childhood and adolescent years long past, war torn lands, friends, and other precious places, were all put into albums by Kate in an effort to preserve the memories of happiness. But when Kate dies and doesn't leave the photo album to her, Miriam is left to wonder, what went wrong? What had she done to be denied her mother s most precious item of their lives together? Through an exploration and reflection of her own life, Miriam teases the fragile bonds that hold relationships together and how easily they may fall apart by circumstances.

About this title

About the Author:

Miriam Frank was a consultant at the Royal London Hospital and was one of the first readers in anaesthesiology. She is currently is a translator of Spanish literature and lives in Battersea, London.

Review:

'I found it both atmospheric and, most important, I wanted to read more' Carmen Callil 'Elegantly written and fascinating' Fay Weldon 'A poignant and beautifully written saga of migrations, which punctuates the history of our times ...' Moris Farhi 'Absolutely riveting' Amanda Hopkinson 'Frank reviews the period with a fresh eye. This is truly a new story ...' Independent 'Her voyages, spelt out in her new memoirs, have nothing to do with the Paul Theroux school of travel writing ... They became the real life characters at Rick's Cafe in Casablanca ... Camden New Journal 'A dramatic and quite gripping autobiography ... Buenos Aires Herald 'Miriam Frank's life is the epitome of twentieth-century displacement' Esra Magazine 'Miriam Frank raconta la sua vita in un libro fantastico, commovente ...' Italia Sera 'My Innocent Absence, full of lovely, tactile detail, is the story of a peripatetic life' Jewish Quarterly 'It isn't surprising that physicians often make excellent writers - they are trained to observe. Miriam Frank is one of that great line of physicians turned writers that includes Chekhov, Maugham and Keats. In Miriam's case the flawless professionalism of the surgery flows seamlessy into flawless prose that has echoes of Lawrence and Proust. This book thoroughly emerges the reader in the human condition from birth to death and back again' Edward Wilson"

About this edition

• Publisher: Gibson Square Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1783341238
• ISBN 13: 9781783341238
• Binding: Hardcover