I was 10 when my last grandparent died so I clearly had no way to interview them for past life information. as much as your book Anita, is fiction, it did help me to imagine life in Boston "way back when".

When I first read the book I assumed that Addie was a unique figure, so independent. Perhaps not. Anita, do you think, through your research, that Addie was "representative" of young women living in her situation, trying to make their way at that time?

Why is there no video feed?

I haven't had an opportunity to read the book yet, but I'm dying to see how this virtual book club discussion works!

Anita, can you tell us more about Rockport Lodge, which was a real place? It sounds amazing.

Have you started?

I think the depth of this goes beyond really listening to our grandparents, but the story, which is history, and remembering that so much that we deal with, those who came before us dealth with in their life context--depression, suicide, death of loved ones too young, finding community and more

I am here.

Really enjoyed the book and read it a 2nd time after meeting Anita at 6th and I Synagogue in DC. I hope that this books sparks those with grrandmothers to do oral interviews with them to learn more about their lives and save family histories.

Hi, all. So glad I finished the book in time to participate!

also testing

Are you going to provide rules of the road?

I'll kick off the conversation with my question: A lot of young women fantasize about getting to Ì¢‰âÒinterviewÌ¢‰âÂå their grandmother who has passed away, as AddieÌ¢‰â‰ã¢s granddaughter does. Did you ever get the chance to speak you your grandmother(s) about their lives?

HELLO EVERYONE! Welcome! And a special welcome to Anita Diamant.

I am here. Thanks to everyone for joining in.

just testing to see if I am a participant

(I thought there was going to be a question to being discussion here, but I see none. So, I'll just start...) The video posted here says Diamant wrote this book about the Rockport Lodge and how that expanded Addie Baum's view of the world and friendships for life. But I am wondering if it was written with some sort of social studies curriculum in mind: The book touches on major historical points -- immigration challenges and assimilation, health issues and shell-shock, oppression of women and labor issues, German versus other Ashkenazi Jewish observances, and white/Jewish flight from cities -- without presenting anything too challenging. In fact, it strikes me as very like an "American Girl" story for slightly older readers, i.e., really just mean to illustrate a time period, not to tell a particularly character-focused story.

The most interesting thing to me was Addie's discovering the anti-child-labor movement when she meets her soon-to-be-husband and how problematic that must have been for someone whose family survival depended on funds from the garment industry. Prior to that we hear very little about conditions and struggles in the factory, especially as Addie and her sister work in offices. But this is tossed off, as "yeah, I thought about my brother-in-law's company," but it's not posed as any kind of conflict in the family: Wasn't Levine upset to have a brother-in-law who was threatening his livelihood and the industry? There must have been some tension there, but it's not explored in the interview with the granddaughter. So, if Anita Diamant is to respond: I'd really like to know about this choice to glide right by what I'm guessing would have been at least as worthy of comment as the issue about which shul to join?

Perhaps because we only have what Addie told her granddaughter, we get only the most obvious (and understandable) anger: lack of recognition for women in the early part of the 20th Century, struggles in the newsroom, racial policies that kept some stories only in the Nation. What would the story have been like, had she been speaking to a peer? to someone in the labor movement? to a young organizer?