A new, not-so-ordinary book club

Have you ever joined a book club? Maybe you were thinking about how stimulating it would be to make new friends and engage in literary discussions. So you joined the book club, and tried to keep up with the reading. But life happened – your children, spouse, career, etc. needed your attention – and it became too much work. So in the end, and with a heavy heart, you left the group.

The Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center (SBHEC) is pleased to announce a new book club for you and all who love to read. The “Not Your Average Book Club” will hold its first meeting on Sunday, Feb. 25. The subtitle of this book club is the No Obligation Book Club, and while the organizers hope you will read the whole book, they have created a group where you will be able to fully participate even if you didn’t.

The club will be led by SBHEC board members and volunteers Robin Kauffman and Maybeth Lichaa. 

“The idea behind the book club is that you don’t necessarily need to read the whole book,” Kauffman said. “Come because there is always something to learn. We hope to keep stories of the Holocaust relevant and alive, and that the book club will be a springboard for discussion and relationship building.”

Lichaa added,  “We don’t want to be just a Jewish book club, and hope to attract a diverse group of people. We’re not going to read books exclusively about the Holocaust, but will also read works of historical fiction built around genocide. The Armenians, the Cambodians and more have their stories to tell as well.”

In that vein, the second book to be read will be “The Sandcastle Girl,” by Chris Bohjalian, which is set in Aleppo, Syria, in 1915, in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.

The first book is “The Velvet Hours,” by Alyson Richman. In it, two women narrate a rich tale set in Paris during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2010, a time capsule of sorts, holding treasures of a bygone age, was uncovered in a Paris apartment untouched since World War II.  Richman fills in the details of this intriguing mystery by imagining the life and loves of the apartment’s real-life inhabitant.

On the eve of WWII, Marthe recites her adventures in Belle Epoque Paris, where she began as an impoverished seamstress. Her granddaughter, Solange, a budding writer, has a story to tell, and her mother recently revealed her own Jewish heritage before dying. Hoping to understand her past, Solange sets out on a journey of personal discovery.

Kauffman and Lichaa invite everyone to participate – they hope to create an inter-generational learning and sharing experience with a diverse group of participants.

The club will meet at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. Refreshments will be served. As space is limited, SBHEC asks that you RSVP to mzeidman@hercri.org or 401-453-7860.

LEV POPLOW is a communications and development consultant writing for the Bornstein Holocaust Center. He can be reached at levpoplow@gmail.com.