Ruth Rotkowitz – Escaping The Whale

‘Escaping The Whale’ by Ruth Rotkowitz is a highly charged emotional story of a daughter of Holocaust Survivors and the trauma that brings with it.

Marcia Gold has what could be perceived as a perfect life. She is a school Guidance Counsellor who helps pregnant teenagers and has a supportive boyfriend. Underneath the perfection, she is, in reality, battling demons and has panic attacks as well. These are quite clearly part of her trying to deal with her parents’ trauma from being holocaust survivors. She watches footage of the Iranian hostage situation at the time and this makes her even more aware of the fact that her trauma can be linked to present-day issues and it can affect everyone. Marcia deals with these issues, that are becoming bigger, alone. She doesn’t tell her boyfriend or anyone, due to the fact that she feels her issues aren’t big enough to warrant help. Eventually, she gets to a point where she attempts to escape from everything and everyone but comes to a realisation that she will always come back to the root of the issue, it can’t be escaped from.

I was totally engrossed in Marcia’s journey and really felt like I wanted to save her but knew I couldn’t. It takes a good storyteller to make you feel it is that real and Escaping The Whale is an excellent example of storytelling.

In my opinion, this book is as important as an actual Holocaust survivor’s story. Just because Marcia was not present in the camps, doesn’t mean she can’t be affected. So many families are brought up with the brutal and horrific stories of the Holocaust and no one can tell me these children are not affected mentally with them. Just because it is a historical event for many doesn’t mean it isn’t trauma for the next generation and they never even realise it until they are unable to cope anymore.

I really felt for Marcia and like I say, just wanted to help in any way possible, even just to say “You are good enough” in the times when she felt so unimportant. A brilliantly written book and one that should be read by everyone in my opinion.

Many thanks to Random Things Tours and the publisher for my copy of this heartbreaking and emotional book to review today.