Leaving--Memories of Romania

recounts the author's childhood and adolescence as the son of impoverished Holocaust survivors. His parents are unable to talk about their past, but their lives and the lives of their two sons are utterly shaped by it. As he comes of age, Mihai Grunfeld is increasingly conscious of his parents profound loneliness, the glaring gaps in his family's history, and the questions that go unanswered. Gradually the story of an innocent child's tender, loving relationship with his parents evolves into a powerful tale of complex family dynamics shaped by adolescent experimentation, the daily grind of factory work, anti-Semitism, and big dreams of escaping the politically restrictive system in which he lives.