Here Comes Mrs. Kugelman    by Minka Pradelski Order:  USA  Can Metropolitan, 2013 (2013) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Tsippy Silberberg's aunt in Tel Aviv has bequeathed her an unusual inheritance, and she decides to travel to Israel in person to accept the legacy and maybe also find the husband she has been looking for. Instead of a future mate she meets Mrs. Kugelman, an inveterate storyteller. Those charming stories help Tsippy in many ways, and we benefit by hearing about the everyday lives of people in the Polish town of Bedzin in the time before it became a crime to be a Jew. The publisher makes much of this story being written with 'an unusually light touch to a most difficult subject.' Because the author, a sociologist and herself a daughter of survivors, has studied the effects of the Holocaust on survivors and their children, she has learned first-hand the effects of unanswered questions that succeeding generations never got answers to or were afraid to ask. If the questions are about life before the Holocaust, this book is a wonderful answer. My thought is there are probably many more undiscussed areas that need to be illuminated and of course many of these will never be able to be treated with a light touch. Perhaps, though, this is the start, and more answers will be forthcoming. For now we can enjoy Mrs. Kugelman's tales. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews