A BRILLIANT LIFE

Author: Rachelle Unreich

Publisher: Bonnier (Black and White)

Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger

A beautifully written, hauntingly open and honest memoir of Holocaust survivor Mira Unreich. Written by her daughter Rachelle Unreich,  ‘A Brilliant Life’ chronicles her mother’s story and how her faith in humanity remained intact. Mira was not a survivor who hid from the horrors, her recall was sharp, but she remembered the small acts of kindness that had saved her. She never lost her cheerful disposition. When she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in her late 80s, it was suggested to her journalist daughter Rachelle that Mira’s life journey was recorded.

What transpired is an extraordinarily revealing story that gently reminds us that for Mira, life after the Holocaust was to be embraced, to be lived to the best of her ability, coincidences are never quite what they seem. Small kindnesses, even in the direst of circumstances, are what drove her forward. Serendipitous events saved her and she used these lessons throughout her life. Nothing was a coincidence.   

Unreich writes with love and respect for her mother: ‘it is a story of my mother’s faith’. There is a gentle, magical quality to the writing – it almost reads like a novel but the reader is reminded that this is a real person with the anecdotes, the disputes, the faults, fights and struggles that every family experiences. Unreich does not sugarcoat anything but what is so evident is the strength that Mira displayed in healing her heart to live a long and worthwhile life. Not a story of academia, of awards won or celebrity status but an ordinary woman who came through the worst of experiences. Mira was a woman who tried to see the positive in everything, even in the worst of situations. Survival without losing her spirit and belief in humanity. A life of healing and love.

The story also reveals a bond and a similarity that perhaps neither of them had recognized. For anyone close to their mother it will perhaps make us look inward to see their influence in perspective – those ties that bind, the lessons learnt – often not evident until too late.    

When I had finished the book I realized that the title of the book is in itself a story – reflecting the brightness of Mira’s spirit. A moving tribute and a humbling read.

Rachelle Unreich is the youngest of Mira’s children, has been a journalist for 38 years, writing for major publications across the globe. She currently lives in Melbourne.