Reading Claudius is a stunning elegy to a vanished time, this dual memoir reminds us of the astonishing sustaining power of literature.
“It is a feat of passionate, radical integrity.” —Leah Hager Cohen, author of No Book but the World
Caroline Heller brings to life the story of her parents, her uncle, and their circle of intellectuals and dreamers from central Europe on the eve of World War II to present-day America. Heller evokes pre-war Prague, where her parents lived, loved, and studied, and the darkest years of Hitler’s rule, when they turned time and time again to literature to help them survive—a practice their daughter continues.
A profound meditation on the mysteries of our pasts, and a window into understanding the ones we love.
