My daughter is ten years old. She’s the same age as the young girl named Tovah in the book. Even writing this now, knowing what I’m about to say, my throat is clogged with emotion. It took several years and a lifetime of thoughts to write this book. I probably could have finished it sooner, but I finished it this year, the year my daughter turned ten, and I don’t believe that’s a coincidence. Knowing what the character of Tovah went through in this story (and in reality), I can’t imagine having to watch my own daughter go through that. I don’t even want to. She’s such a happy-go-lucky kid, with a ready smile, and boundless enthusiasm for everything she does. To think that a group of people could begrudge her very existence in this world and want to remove her from it, horrifies and sickens me. It brings tears to my eyes even now because this isn’t a hypothetical.
We’ve all heard the terrible statistic that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. We don’t often hear that 1,500,000 of them were children. And they weren’t just killed, they were starved and tortured and thrown away like garbage. Innocent children.
As more and more time passes between now and when the concentration camps were liberated, as the survivors pass away, it’s up to us to make sure their stories live on. Because the lessons of hatred, and silence in the face of that hatred, are timeless. You only have to turn on the news any day of the week to see that. As a writer, I toyed with writing this story for a long time before I sat down to do it, because it scared me. Yes, the story is frightening, but I was more afraid of the pressure I felt to do this story justice. I was afraid that conveying all I wanted to convey was beyond my capabilities. I’m still afraid of that, but I wrote it anyway, because someone had to.
We can never forget.
Release Date: October 7, 2020
Meira Sokolow had the misfortune of being born to Jewish parents in Warsaw, Poland, in 1912. Before she took her first breath, her fate had been sealed.
Residing in the Jewish Quarter of the city, Meira’s early life was typical. She fell in love with a local boy, got married, and had a daughter. Then the German army marched into Warsaw and everything changed. Forced into the ghetto with her family, she found survival to be a daily struggle. Hunger, disease, and unimaginable cruelty were her stark realities. When the ghetto was purged and she was sent to a concentration camp, Meira still had her family, and that was all that mattered. Then the camp was liquidated, and only a handful of survivors remained out of thousands. Meira Sokolow was one of them.
No longer a wife or mother, Meira emigrated to New York City. After World War II, the world wanted to move on and start a new chapter, but Meira couldn’t turn the page so easily. She walked through her days alone, like a ghost with nothing to tether her to the earth. Then she met Max, a handsome American, who first mistook her for one of the boring socialites he encountered every day. He soon learned she was unlike anyone he had met before, seeing her strength and resilience, even when she couldn’t. Max knew he could breathe life into her again, if only she would let him.
Tragic and heartfelt, Where Butterflies Go is based on the harrowing true story of one woman’s survival during the Nazi occupation of Poland, and her struggle to find meaning in the aftermath.
During the Blog Tour, we are giving away three $25 Amazon Gift Cards! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on November 13th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Debra Doxer was born in Boston, and other than a few lost years in the California sunshine, she has always resided in the Boston area. She writes fiction, technical software documents, illegible scribbles on sticky notes, and texts that get mangled by AutoCorrect. She writes for a living, and she writes for fun. When not writing, she’s walking her Havanese puppy and forcing her daughter to listen to new wave 80s music.
Monday, October 12
Review at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, October 13
Review at Amy’s Booket List
Wednesday, October 14
Guest Post at Novels Alive
Monday, October 19
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink
Tuesday, October 20
Review at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals
Thursday, October 22
Review at Books, Writings, and More
Feature at Books In Their Natural Habitat
Saturday, October 24
Review at Reading is My Remedy
Monday, October 26
Feature at I’m All About Books
Wednesday, October 28
Review at Robin Loves Reading
Review at Tangents and Tissues
Friday, October 30
Interview at Novels Alive
Sunday, November 1
Review at YA, it’s Lit
Wednesday, November 4
Interview at Books & Benches
Thursday, November 5
Review at Girl Who Reads
Friday, November 6
Feature at The Lit Bitch
Monday, November 9
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective
Tuesday, November 10
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, November 12
Review at Novels Alive
Friday, November 13
Review at Bookramblings
What a moving post! Thank you so much for hosting today!
Amy
HF Virtual Book Tours
It really is. It is heartbreaking when you think about what so millions of Jews endured and many of them children. I have a 9-year-old granddaughter, and this hit me hard.
Thank you, Debra, for sharing your book and heart.