Description
2017 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal for Memoir
2017 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist
2017 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite for Memoir
2016 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal for Memoir
2016 Beverly Hills BOook Awards Silver Medal for Memoir
“A triumphant story of a woman coming to terms with the loss of her mother and an inspiring, though haunting, testament to the endurance of the human spirit.”
―Kirkus Reviews
“Veronica’s Grave is the compelling memoir of a woman coming to terms with the loss of her mother. In the process of discovering her mother, she ends up discovering herself . . . the author’s narration is descriptive, drawing readers into her world, her emotional pain, and her angst. The pictures shared in the book help readers connect with the author, making her life more tangible to them . . . It’s a good book for everyone, especially parents as it reminds them that they need to hear their children at any and every age.”
―Readers’ Favorite
“Veronica’s Grave shows both the warmth of a loving family and the mistakes when secrets are kept. A compelling tale that gives wonderful insight to the readers.”
―Mary Higgins Clark, author of more than 50 best-selling novels, including All Around the Town, Loves Music, Loves to Dance, and While My Pretty One Sleeps
“Veronica’s Grave is worthwhile reading for any young woman who has had to struggle to assert herself against a patriarchal and traditionally religious upbringing. For sheer joy of spirit and joie de vivre, Barbara Donsky’s memoir surpasses many another work of its like an experience that promises to be a rewarding read for mother and daughter alike, it fully deserves the acclaim that it has so far achieved.”
―Book Pleasure Review, July 2016
“Veronica’s Grave: A Daughter’s Memoir is a compelling account of how a young woman, confronted with the unexplained loss of her mother, relies on her own inner resources and determination to not only discover the family secret of who her mother was but, in the process, discovers her own self and her own unacknowledged potential.”
―Peter H. Kudler, M.D, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center
“The voice Barbara chose resonated with someone like myself who grew up at a similar time. It was a time that women with dreams and visions had to carve their own paths with few role models to lead the way. Your book evoked many memories of discovering the world as a child, teenager, and a young adult.”
―Ruth Waldbaum, M.D., Diplomate Board of Adult and Adolescent Psychiatry, Distinguished Fellow American Psychiatric Association
“Donsky’s coming-of-age memoir is a vivid portrait of a remarkable life. It is a deft rendering that begins by inhabiting the shadows of a childhood lost, later illustrating a person becoming slowly visible to herself. The images and sounds of her New York neighborhoods―as well as the perfume-scented rues in the Paris she discovers as a young woman―are defining brushstrokes to complement and frame this remarkable story.”
―Rita Gardiner, author of award-winning memoir Coconut Latitudes: Secrets, Storms, and Survival in the Caribbean
“Barbara Bracht Donsky has crafted a most poignant and important memoir, which tugs at the heart from the very first page. As the author grows from the child confused by the sudden loss of her mother to an inquisitive young adult, readers will be drawn to her strength and fierce determination not to have the secrets and mystery of her mother’s death define the woman she eventually becomes.”
―Sande Boritz Berger, author of The Sweetness, Foreword Reviews Indie Fab Finalist
“Told in an almost fiction way, with great dialogue. Some memoirs are very dry and boring, not so this one. I found myself remembering some of her references, especially the Nancy Drew ones. I myself loved Nancy Drew stories but in a different way, as reading was an escape for me from an abused childhood…This book is worth a read! I enjoyed it immensely!”
―Celtic Woman Reviews
“….{A} poignant story…”
―New York Post
“When Barbara Bracht was three years old, her mother vanishes from her life. The secret―and the silence within the family about it―casts a long shadow over Donsky’s life.”
―New York Magazine
