Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir

Rita Lurie was five years old when she left her home in Poland to hide in a small, dark attic with fourteen members of her family. From the summers of 1942 to 1944, she could barely move and spoke only in whispers, surviving on raw scraps of food. Rita sat helplessly in silence as her younger brother, then mother, died before her eyes. Most Holocaust survivor stories would end with these final harrowing days, but it is here that this unique memoir begins.
Decades later, Rita Lurie had become a loving, successful mother. But what lurked beneath the unbreakable bonds of her close-knit family was a legacy of fear, guilt, and distress that had a tremendous impact on her eldest daughter, Leslie. An accomplished lawyer, media executive, and philanthropist, Leslie 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 outlook on life. It was this search for mutual understanding that would ultimately help ease the psychological burden on them both.
A decade-long collaboration between mother and daughter, BENDING TOWARD THE SUN reveals how deeply the Holocaust still lives in the hearts and minds of survivors, and even extends into the lives of their descendants. Rita and Leslie bring together the stories of three generations of women-mother, daughter, and granddaughter Mikaela-to understand the traumatic legacy that unites them all. This is a unique memoir with an incredible emotional and historical sweep, sure to touch anyone who has ever sought reassurance and hope following a traumatic experience.