Of Unknown Origin: A Memoir

by Debra Levi Holtz

A true story that could have been culled from the best of Chandler or Ellroy, " Of Unknown Origin "is about a woman insistent on re-claiming her family history and her own identity, however terrifying... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571781005
• ISBN13: 9781571781000
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Council Oak Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

pageturner!

I found this book so exciting that I had to stay up all night to finish it. Fiction could have not created a more complex set of characters than Debra Holtz's family, both adopted and genetic. The sense of place and time from her childhood Chicago to her adult California is terrific. I was facinated by the tremendous inner resources that Holtz developed to reconcile her personal story. Her writing is wonderful. The book is gripping.

Wow!

What a great read! Debra Holtz bares her soul in this riveting account of her search for hr biological parents. Although slow to start, once she begins the search in earnest I couldn't put the book down! The nitty gritty details are fascinating, and the shady Mob-associated parts like her Chicago records being "lost", then discovering that they were in a mysterious warehouse fire, drive the story along. The personal details are also memorable - Debra Holtz really "tells all" and lets the reader know just how it felt to dig so far under the surface of buried family history. She comes to terms with her past at the end in a truly moving scene. Although a real story, this would make a great movie! I hope someone in Hollywood snaps it up!