Review of “A Hand Made Life by Miriam Gold” – A Beautiful Memoir of a Grandmother

Miriam Gold’s first book feels like a subtle, enchanting magic trick. Despite its deceptively simple exterior—some pictures and a minimal amount of words—it holds a remarkable depth and beauty. This small, solid, and scrappy book could easily be mistaken for something unearthed from an old cedar trunk or found tucked away in a lavender-scented drawer. It’s almost impossible for any heart, no matter how hardened, to resist its beautifully crafted charms. This book feels like something you want to wrap in brown paper and string and give to everyone you care about.

The book is part memoir, part biography, telling the story of Gold’s cherished grandmother, Dr. Elena Zadik. By the time Gold knew her, Zadik was a devoted general practitioner in Leigh, Lancashire—a former mill town. Elena knew her patients by name and was passionately dedicated to her work, refusing to retire until she turned 70. She enjoyed knitting, countryside walks, and telling slightly risqué stories. However, underneath her cheerful demeanor were layers of unimaginable pain.

Born in 1919, Zadik was a twice-over refugee. Her Jewish parents first fled Kharkiv in what is now Ukraine for Leipzig, Germany during the Russian civil war when she was just a baby. By 1936, her family sent her alone to London with the hope that she could pass enough exams to qualify for medical school. This move marked the last time she would see her parents. They were arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and perished in Auschwitz.

In Sheffield, Elena studied medicine and fell in love with a fellow student, a German Jew named Frank. The war separated them; Frank was sent to an internment camp and later served as a doctor in the British army. Despite these obstacles, Elena managed to push forward. She qualified as a doctor when her first baby was just six months old. Gold wisely chooses to present these events with a focus on showing rather than telling. Each page of the book subtly illustrates her grandmother’s incredible resilience and determination, as well as her belief in staying busy no matter the circumstances.

Miriam Gold seems to have inherited Elena’s tenacity. A secondary school teacher in East London, Gold created her book on her days off, employing a range of media that brings her narrative to life. She uses everything from old photographs and airmail letters to smocking patterns, cut-out dolls, and embroidery samplers. These varied elements offer the reader a visually stunning and nostalgically rich experience. One particularly striking moment is Gold’s watercolour of the tram that Elena and Frank used to take into the Peak District. Seeing this instantly recognizable landmark left me momentarily breathless.

A Hand Made Life is quietly political, determined to remember the scars left by the monumental events of the 20th century. It asks profound questions about the legacy of violence. Yet it also serves as an elegy for a northern England that no longer exists—a world of canals, cooling towers, and lung-busting walks on Stanage Edge that Elena grew to love deeply.

Source: The Guardian, Particle News