A look behind the scene of a missing family
927074
I've been interested in this unusual disappearance for several years. This case has been featured on several TV shows, but Rick's book tells us some of the back story, which hasn't been made public: the odd withdrawals from Joseph McStay's Paypal account after he went missing, Summer's mortgage modification work, a CPS complaint, etc. I'm not sure if I agree with some of Rick's theories and he doesn't solve the mystery, but there is enough info in the book to make one realize why this case hasn't been solved--theories could go off into many directions.
3479656
A beautiful tale of a daughter learning of her mother's life before she was born, her mother's friends and their daughters, and her Chinese heritage.  The women tell stories of lives once lived in a far away land, remembrances of their youth, some hard times but also wonderful memories.  She begins to search for something lost that her mother never found, a wish, and wants to help finish her mother's story.  A wonderful read.
1104494
I enjoyed this book for its details into managing a struggling family that has been reunited. There is no place like home.
4444407
A beautifully written book that examines a single tragic event from the varied perspectives of three characters-a mother who was forever changed after the death of her husband and her two emotionally neglected, adult daughters.  When one daughter's suicide attempt fails,  the 3 women find themselves under the same roof again after years of intentional separation.  The circle has enlarged to include two children, young girls who have experienced the aftermath of the broken family.  They are brought to live with their grandmother during their mother's recovery.  Their presence breaks the silence and forces the small family to think through the past and how they each responded to the loss of a husband and father.  The prologue reveals a great secret that marks the beginning of destruction of their relationships.  The writing is good and there are passages that were so beautiful,  I highlighted to remember the phasing. This is a touching story of loss, forgiveness, sisters, sacrifice, misunderstandings and new beginnings.
3112308
I really enjoyed this book with how it kept me wanting to know more about the families and what was going on.  This book truly kept my interest.  I would recommend anyone to read it!
4243312
Very interesting story and well written but a little too detailed....after a while I didn't need to know the minute by minute details of each family, what they were wearing, what they had for dinner, etc. But well worth the read
3445727
Amazing book, what the family went through...could not put it down
2863721
This is a riveting read....amazed at what this family has gone through
2771512
Hidden Gold is an amazing account of an amazing family who survived against all odds.
The story serves as an essential document of what has happened just two generations ago in progressive Europe. The book is a page turner and beautifully written and the characters of the Gold family come alive .

Eli Nussbaum
3387064
The author captures what it must have been like for the many, many children refugees who were sent away from NAZI occupied lands during WWII. Children who had to leave their parents and families behind to go live with strangers in a foreign (to them) land and in many cases, never to go back home again or see their families again. An excellent read!
4698043
My father's family is from West Virginia, and this gives a very clear recounting of an event that until now has been told only through family tales.  It brings life to a mostly forgotten time, but in an area where the bitterness still remains.
4523066
This is a beautiful book about tracking down the pieces of a fractured family and putting the family back together.  Life wounds.  This is part of the human experience.  When a wound is early and deep, it can shape the course of a person's whole life, sometimes in ways that are amazing.

When Susan Hadler was one month old, the father she had never seen was killed in World War II.  There were no remains.  The only thing she knew of him was a tender letter of greeting he had written her shortly before he died.  By the time Susan was old enough to comprehend any of this, her mother had remarried.  The only father Susan knew was her stepfather, a good man.  Susan's mother didn't want to talk about her first husband.  The memory of his loss was too painful.

So Susan lived her life, marriage, education, children of her own, a professional career.  But there was still that letter, and still the empty space in her heart.  Finally she set out to learn who her father was, and the story of that quest is the first part of the book.  And quite a story it is.  All I will say is that Susan came to know this father she had never seen better than I knew my own father, who was in my life for 60 years.

And there's more.  Susan's mother had two sisters, from whom she was long estranged.  Susan set out to hunt them down.  Finding one of them was fairly easy.  Finding the other was close to a miracle and is one more amazing tale.  The rewards were rich, a whole new extended family, Susan's siblings, cousins with whom they found much in common, and most valuable of all, enrichment of the last days of an old lady who had fallen between the cracks.

As a bonus, this book is beautifully written.  Do yourself a favor and read it.  You'll be moved, and you'll be enlightened.
3197082
Well written with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Thoughtfully examines the horror of the disappearance of a child and its many impacts of parents and family members.
867403
Loved the story! It helped me understand my friend, who was an orphan at this time and never knew her parents.  She, later, searched when records were made available, and found sisters . I  lived near an orphanage , and took some orphan friends home for lunch.  The school called my mother and told her, the children were not allowed to leave the school grounds (understandable).  My mother told the school that as long as I brought them home, she was going to feed them.  I was very proud of my mother.
A very sad time for children during the depression and after. The conditions were not known at this time until many, many years later, when investigation were made.  Some stories were published during the investigations.  I am sure many mothers  were left with the promise they could come for them later.  I believe some children were even sold. Very sad!
1583664
A great life story about a great family of people! I thoroughly enjoyed the book, cover to cover. I am now reading his brother's (Sidney, who is 2 yrs older) life story. It's interesting how they each tell/remember their childhood experiences. Similar, but each has different perspective, Sidney being the oldest. When Sidney, Jimmy and their baby sister were left alone in the wilderness for days (after their mother died from eating bad Whitefish guts, which Sidney tells, Jimmy doesn't) Jimmy was only 3 yrs old. Sidney was 5. Their perspective is quite apparent. All in all, if you read this book, you MUST also read Sidney's life story. (Shadows on the Koyukuk). Sidney details things of his (their) childood and The Life in Alaska that Jimmy never touches upon. The two books complement each other.
506245
This is a story of a family that strayed from  God and  because
of prayers for them discovered their way back to the true God.
2411848
This is a family history gathered over more than 20 years of research. It is the story of the author's mother's family who were Hungarian Jews in Europe before, during and after WW II, and in South and North America after WW II. The story teller, Janos, shares a first person narrative of the tragedy of loss in the Nazi concentration camps, and the survival of 4 brothers and their history. It is the gift of an old man, to the next generation of his family. An old man who did not want to take the family history, and secrets to his grave.  It is a worthy read for the story it tells and the family history revealed after 60 plus of secrecy.