About the Book

Rita Lurie was five years old when she went into hiding to escape from the Nazis. For two full years, she lived in a cramped attic, barely able to move and surviving on scraps of food. Rita sat helplessly in silence as her younger brother and her mother died before her eyes.

Decades later, Rita had become the matriarch of a loving, close-knit family. But lurking beneath the surface of her happy life was a legacy of fear, guilt, and distress that had a tremendous impact on her daughter Leslie, who began developing fears and anxieties that were eerily similar to Rita’s own. Seeking answers in her mother’s past, Leslie realized how deeply Rita’s long-hidden pain had shaped her own outlook on life. It was this search for mutual understanding that would ultimately help ease the psychological burden on both women. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Bending Toward the Sun offers a strong message of hope in our own uncertain times.

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie is a writer, philanthropist, lawyer, and children’s advocate. She was an executive at NBC Television, where she worked on hit shows such as Cheers, Family Ties, Saved by the Bell, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. As a lawyer, Leslie worked briefly at a major Los Angeles law firm and served as a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals law clerk. A graduate of UCLA School of Law, Gilbert-Lurie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

“Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating — this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down.” — Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Founding President, Jewish Life Network

Critical Praise

“A captivating memoir that explores a complicated, loving, and enduring mother-daughter bond, and reveals how doubts, hopes, and dreams are handed down from generation to generation. As both a mother and a daughter, I found it deeply touching.” — Arianna Huffington, author, syndicated columnist, and founder of The Huffington Post

“Here is a memoir that takes us through many worlds, through heartache and noble hopes, through the mysteries of family love and toward a beautiful, light filled conclusion. Read Bending Toward the Sun and enrich your life.” — Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Why Faith Matters and Making Loss Matter-Creating Meaning in Difficult Times

“Gripping, exhausting, exciting, devastating--this book is at times hard to read but always impossible to put down. ” — Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Founding President, Jewish Life Network; former Chairman of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

“BENDING TOWARD THE SUN is . . . bolstered by writing that is compelling and sensitive, the book transcends the holocaust genre with its multi-generational point of view on the ultimate effect of fear and evil on young minds.” — Dick Wolf, Emmy Award-winning creator and Executive Producer of Law and Order; Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; and Law and Order: Criminal Intent

“[An] affecting memoir. . . . Vivid. . . . Riveting. . . . An amazing story of wartime survival.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The lasting impact of the Holocaust on a survivor and her daughter emerges in this joint account. . . . The voices and experiences expressed are valuable.” — Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780061776724
• ISBN 10: 0061776726
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 09/07/2010
• Trimsize: 5.310 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.830 in (d)
• Pages: 368
• List Price: $17.99
• BISAC1 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Survival
• BISAC2 : HISTORY / Jewish
• BISAC3 : HISTORY / Military / World War II
• BISAC4 : HISTORY / World
• BISAC5 : HISTORY / Modern / 21st Century
• BISAC6 : HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)
• BISAC7 : HISTORY / Holocaust
• BISAC8 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women
• BISAC9 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
• BISAC10 : HISTORY / Women