Overview: Thread of Life is a portrait of the twentieth century - its times of war and peace - seen through the lives of three generations of Jewish women.

At its heart are Dora, a romantic and tragic figure, a concert pianist born in Riga, who lived in St Petersburg and was killed in the Riga Holocaust; her daughter, Genia, born in 1915 in St Petersburg, who lived in many places around the world before dying in England at the age of 102; and, in their different threads and versions of the truth, their legacy to author Jennifer Kavanagh, who shares her moments of discovery while addressing themes of Russia, Jewishness, motherhood, music, home, and language, as well as the vagaries of memory.

Verdict: In what is a genuine page turner of a prose experience, Thread of Life: My Russian Legacy by author Jennifer Kavanagh is one of those books that you maybe didn’t know much about going in, but my goodness, once you start reading it you are instantly compelled to keep reading until your eyes force you to rest.

For wrapped loving within its profoundly revealing pages is not only a dutiful tale of social observation, but one where as the pages turn also brings forth a heartwarming work of heartfelt remembrance.

Containing themes such as Jewishness, family, music, home and so much more, this, at its beginning, tale of two ladies - Dora Holocaust and her daughter Riga; latterly inclusive of Riga’s daughter Genia - spans Russia to Latvia, Switzerland and both Egypt and England in such a way that their tapestry of life woven by Kavanagh is one both widely researched and thoroughly impassioned.

An expertly created and magnificently sculpted new book, Thread of Life: My Russian Legacy is, simply put, a story that once read will stay with you for life. It is mesmerizing, well written and with its many themes, is one that should resonate within you, Jewish or not, on a family level.

About the Author - Jennifer Kavanagh gave up her career as a literary agent to work in the community in London’s East End. She is a speaker and prolific writer on the Spirit-led life and an Associate Tutor at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. She lives in London, UK.

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