"Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating - this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down."
A Mother and Daughter Memoir
A miraculous lesson in courage and recovery, Bending Toward the Sun tells the story of a unique family bond forged in the wake of brutal terror. Weaving together the voices of three generations of women, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and her mother, Rita Lurie, provide powerful—and inspiring—evidence of the resilience of the human spirit, relevant to every culture in every corner of the world. By turns unimaginably devastating and incredibly uplifting, this firsthand account of survival and psychological healing offers a strong, poignant message of hope in our own uncertain times.
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Author Leslie Gilbert-Lurie celebrated the release of her new book Bending Towards the Sun, which chronicles her mother’s remarkable journey from Holocaust survivor and refugee to American citizen, by engaging in the quintessential gesture of Americana, throwing out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium. Leslie threw a strike on Sunday, September 6th moments before her hometown Dodgers took on the San Diego Padres. Credit: Juan Ocampo
"Bending Toward the Sun is more than a moving and inspiring Holocaust memoir. It is a story of mothers and daughters and the complicated and profound legacies that one generation leaves for the next. It is a tribute to the wonder of love and the truth that even after unspeakable loss, the spirit can be rekindled. Anyone who is a mother or who had a mother will be transformed by this powerful book."
-- Rabbi Laura Geller
Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills
Third Woman in the World to be ordained a Reform Jewish Rabbi
Named in 2007 by the Forward newspaper as one of the "Forward 50 Individuals"