I was intrigued by the description of this book, "I didn't even know my mother's real name", and so I borrowed this book from the library to read on my nook.

all in all, it was an interesting read. The book tells of Helen's family & the secrets Helen's parents kept from her and her sister her whole life, until she somehow finds out she's actually Jewish (the book never really explains to my satisfaction exactly how she discovered she was Jewish & that her mother was lying to her). There's also a lot of past / present back and forth in the book which I'm not a huge fan of, but it was also definitely the best way to write this type of book.

The book's pace was a bit slow to me and there are parts that feel repetitive, but I felt the unique nature of this biography offsets the negatives in the book. That being said, why only 3 stars? I feel it was not only cruel, Helen's relentless pursuing of truths her family didn't want revealed, but not only that - she writes a book & publishes it, revealing to the world all of her families dirty secrets. Writing the book I think helped her deal with the truths, which I understand, publishing was still cruel.