Dr. Josef's Little Beauty

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Dina Pearlman
Audiobook
7 hr 31 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

A Holocaust story as fascinating and compelling as it is terrifying and puzzling-a book about aging and war crimes, pain and pride. In the middle of summer, omnipresent heat radiates as a group of elderly people are remembering their youth. The story focuses on two sisters, Leokadia and Helena, who live together in a retirement home not far from Warsaw. These are not ordinary stories they are sharing because both of them were imprisoned as children in Auschwitz during World War II. At the center is Helena, who at the age of twelve was saved from extermination by the notorious doctor Josef Mengele, the real-life Nazi officer and physician who was known as the "angel of death" for the experiments he conducted on prisoners, including twins and siblings. This is a story both provocative and disturbing about the fear that lingers in victims. Was the sisters' relationship with the executioner a desperate attempt to save their lives, or perhaps they harbor a hideous pride and sense of superiority over other prisoners? Rudzka's extraordinary writing turns unsettling questions about memory and survival into art.

About the author

Zyta Rudzka is a masterful writer, whose terse and forceful style is rapidly gaining her a place among Poland's best contemporary novelists. She is the author of Dr. Josef's Little Beauty, A Brief Exchange of Fire, Soft Tissues, and Only Those with Teeth Can Smile. She is an award-winning playwright and poet.

Dina Pearlman was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, and went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University. Based in New York City, she is an actress, stand-up comic, and the Audie Award-nominated narrator of over 300 audiobooks.

Antonia Lloyd-Jones has translated works by many of Poland's leading contemporary novelists and reportage authors, as well as crime fiction, poetry, and children's books. Her translation of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International prize.

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