The first anniversary is paper!

An important milestone 

It came to me with a jolt that it’s almost a year since the publication of my memoir, Stumbling Stones: the Holocaust, my family and me. The timespan between starting to write it and celebrating its first anniversary is about one sixth of my life; that sobering fact speaks to its importance for me. During that time I visited Germany repeatedly – finding connections, uncovering information, making lifelong friends and reclaiming the German citizenship that had been stolen from my forebears.

What’s the book about?

If you haven’t (yet?) got your hands on a copy of the book, here is the blurb from the cover:

It was only a chance meeting, while visiting Switzerland in 2014, that gave Miriam Landor the full story of her father’s German Jewish background. This led her to the Bavarian city of Landshut where members of her family are memorialised on Stolpersteine. These ‘stumbling stones’ are brass plaques set into the pavement outside the last abode of victims of the Nazi regime.

In this moving memoir, Miriam interweaves her own life story with that of her father’s family, using her training as a psychologist to analyse the impact of the past on their lives, and on her own. Frequently relocated as a child due to her father’s international service with UNDP, Miriam eventually settled in Orkney. Here she brought up her own family, and began a process of deep reflection. 

Stumbling Stones is a story of displacement and self-discovery, and of redemption and reconciliation, told with remarkable frankness, perception and insight. As such, it is a fascinating account of how learning about our own past can help us to understand who we can be.

‘Warm, intelligent and honest. This book is rich in family history and psychological understanding based on the author’s profession. An engrossing and humane read about the most difficult of topics.’ Gabrielle Barnby, author of Orkney and Outwith.

What have I learnt during this post-publication year?

• That launching a book is a time for nurturing organic growth and development, rather than just a one-off celebration event (though throwing a party with family and friends is fun, and deserved…).
• That it is both rewarding and enjoyable to make personal relationships with bookshops, libraries and local retailers, who may then stock copies of Stumbling Stones and organise book events for me.
• That receiving unsolicited correspondence from readers, week after week, telling me why reading my book was important to them, is heart-warming to the nth degree (though it is also somewhat frustrating that these personal messages are not always copied into online reviews; I was guilty of this myself before I understood how important this aid to visibility is for new authors). 

My goal for the next year: 

In a few weeks I will travel to Augsburg, the birthplace of my grandfather, the publisher Dr Richard Landauer, for the reunion of the Descendants of the Jewish Community of Augsburg. Here I hope to meet other second and third generation Landauers – descendants of Fritz Landauer, the architect of Augsburg’s famous synagogue, and of Walter Landor, founder of the international branding company Landor Associates. With their help I hope to find an agent and publisher for Stumbling Stones in Germany. It is only through the kindness of present-day Germans that I learned the full story of my father’s family. This is their history too.

‘Stumbling Stones: the Holocaust, my family and me’ can be ordered from your usual bookshop or online retailer.