Bram has told his grandfather’s story with wonderful imagination and love. Heartbreaking and moving. Thank you for sharing.

Bram Presser’s quest to find out about his grandparents, who survived the Holocaust and moved to Australia, began when a couple of years after their death he read a newspaper article describing something his grandfather had possibly been involved with whilst in captivity. Presser thought he knew his grandfather, but maybe he didn’t, especially as his grandparents never spoke about what had happened to them. This book, a blend of fact and fiction, is the result of Pressers’ research and it’s a powerful and memorable tale. He weaves his personal family history into a wider Holocaust narrative to good effect, although I sometimes felt uneasy with the blend of fact and fiction. He has to reimagine his grandparents’ story and does so using a mix of known fact and Jewish and family myth. The book jumps about in time and place, and is quite fragmented, and I could have done with a bit more help with the placing and context of the different chapters. There are many Holocaust narratives and this is certainly up there with the best, but on a personal level I didn’t find it as immersive as some. Nevertheless, Presser’s exploration of trauma, memory, family and truth largely succeeds, and the book is a significant tribute to his grandparents and their fellow Holocaust victims.

The author did a brilliant job of combining his memory, research and fiction to write a beautiful book. This book was well written and an enjoyable read!

An original and interesting piece of WWII fiction, and an incredibly impressive debut, The Book of DIrt by Bram Presser marries aspects of his family's personal history to a strangely fairy tale like style of storytelling to create a compelling and memorable tale.
The use of the term fairy tale is not meant in any way to suggest there is anything light or fun about this book, rather, like the darker origins of the real fairy tales, there is a magical, musical and sometimes almost macabre twist to the way the story is told, as well as a very effective twist on a well known Jewish myth, that of the Golem.
The book itself follows the stories of several people as they struggle to survive the war, and the various ways their lives paths cross, and the reader cannot help but be moved by their terrible situation and the deprivations and cruelty they must endure.
What really makes this book stand out is the unusual writing style, and while it may take a little getting used to at first, it really is quite beautiful and incredibly evocative.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Unless a family is particularly close knit, garrulous, and practice good document management, the histories of specific members will be forgotten after a generation or two. Documents and photos can give descendants hints about the full, rich lives that were live (except for all the Norwegian potato farmers in my family). When disasters, war, and other destructive events swept through, we lose clues to the past. In the case of the narrator of Bram Presser’s The Book of Dirt, the greatest disaster—the Holocaust—not only meant that there were few documents to trace his family’s story, but also that the survivors were unwilling or unable to share their stories. So, the narrator (who is also named Bram Presser) set out to write stories for his maternal grandparents. The Book of Dirt is the product of Presser as narrators’s research and imagination.

Presser the Narrator (a character separate from the actual author of the book, for the sake of this review) only has a few pieces of information about what happened to Jakub Rand and Daša Roubíčková between 1939 and 1945. Rand was incarcerated in Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Roubíčková had a similar journey. After the war, they found each other in Prague, married, and emigrated to Australia. Decades later, Presser the Narrator sends emails and letters, then visits Yad Vashem, Beit Terezín, and museums in Prague to try and find out more. This story would have been enough to fill a book, but there are also tantalizing hints in Rand’s story that point to his possible participation in the Talmudkommando, a group of Jewish scholars assigned to sorting and cataloging looted Jewish artifacts and written materials.

When Presser the Narrator tries to find out more about his grandfather’s part in the Talmudkommando, the documentary trail goes cold. The limited paper trail about the group doesn’t mention Rand at all. The lack of evidence suggests that Rand was either mistaken or fabricating his experiences. Presser the Narrator, nothing daunted by the gaps in the record, sets out to write his grandparents’ stories as they might have been. Using his memories of his grandparents’ stories; genealogical research; and research about Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and the Holocaust, Presser the Narrator creates a fuller version of their hardships and how they managed to survive. Presser the Narrator builds a joint memoir that explains why Rand and Roubíčková tried so very hard to never look back or talk about their long, terrible, incarceration.

The Book of Dirt is one of the most metafictional books I’ve read in a long time, so much so that I am reminded of HhHH, by Laurent Binet, in which the author writes as much about his struggles with his research and writing process as he does in actually writing a history of Operation Anthropoid. The Book of Dirt contains family photos and historical records, which are spread through chapters in which Presser the Narrator talks about his research travails and longer chapters that follow his grandparents from the 1930s through the end of World War II. All of these things are blended together into a Frankenstein-like whole.

It’s hard to tell what’s real, historical fact and what Presser the Author invented. Some readers might be bothered by this. At times, I was, because I didn’t always like the liberties Presser the Author took with the historical record. Other readers may like Presser the Author’s premise and find The Book of Dirt a meaningful tribute to his grandparents. There’s a fine like between presumption and audacity, and I’m on the fence about which side I think Presser the Author falls on. If nothing else, I appreciate the thought that Presser the Author wanted to bring back into reality what was previously lost.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

I found the Book of Dirt to not be the easiest book that I've read recently. That being said it was obviously incredibly well researched and written, albeit a little confusing with the many characters. As I said, not the easiest read, but what book would be with the topic material?

Surviving a traumatic event such as the Holocaust is incredible feat and story by itself, but what author Bram Presser has done is weaved personal family history and engaging fiction that transcends the normal historical fiction genre itself. The author knew that his grandfather had been in a concentration camp and had been a teacher there and survived, but then a newspaper article illuminates a more interesting (and possibly unnerving) narrative. Setting out to the uncover the truth, Presser takes his findings and presents scenarios about both of his grandparent's experiences in one of history's darkest periods.

What makes this novel work is the blending of painstaking research and vibrant characters in the most desolate times and situations. From the Catholic great grandmother turned Jewish (and having to live with the effects as the madness unfolded) to his grandfather forced to take part in verifying sacred texts for the Museum of the Ancient Race for the Nazis, the characters are of full of life and personality and portray their struggles very effectively. Learning about the aforementioned Talmudkommando and what being a "privileged Jew" actually meant were some of the novels most engaging moments. With a prose that benefits very well from the impact of the Jewish folklore and terminology peppered throughout the writing, this is a captivating meshing of facts and storytelling that morphs into something quite fascinating and entertaining.

A very big thank you to NetGalley, Bram Presser, and Text Publishing Company for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Bram Presser's THE BOOK OF DIRT follows the story of his grandfather, Jan Randa, a Holocaust survivor. While this is considered a work of fiction, it is shrouded in fact and extensive research. It was rather difficult to keep track of the characters and storyline as they differ from chapter to chapter. I find myself fascinated with the Holocaust and have a deep appreciation for preserving the stories of the victims and survivors for future generations. It's clear that Bram has done just that, he's managed to capture his grandfather's story in a way that is historically insightful and heartfelt.

Who was Jakub Rand and just what did he do during WWII? This is a grandson's quest to discover the real Jakub Rand.

This is a real enigma of a book. In one way it is powerful and moving and yet in another it is confusing and complicated.

There are several threads throughout this book some covering different characters and others the same characters at different points in their history. The book chops and changes between the threads with no notice or chapter heading making it very confusing for the reader. Add into the confusion the fact that some people went by more than one name or title and several names of people and places are very similar. I will grant that the author did provide a cast list at the beginning of the book but when reading on an electronic device it is hard to turn backwards and forwards. With hindsight I should have copied or printed off the list so that I could have referred to it easily throughout the book. I feel a few of my own notes would have also helped.

Leaving the confusion aside, the writing in this book was wonderful. It has obviously been written with passion which comes through the text. There is depth to the descriptions with a rich vocabularly used.

I really wish that I had found this book easier to follow. I am sure that the energy I used in working out exactly which thread I was in & what was going on could have been better used in my appreciation of the book.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

A moving story that really touched me and had me saying to myself just one more page, over and over.
A beautiful tribute to Pressers family, im sure this book will stay with me for a very long time.
I will be recommending this to everyone i know, The only reason i havent given 5 stars is at times i found the book a little confusing. But i loved it all the same. Will be looking out for more books by the author.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read.

I read an advanced reading copy from Text Publishing Company via NetGalley. Thanks!

I am not sure what to say about this book. I found the writing beautiful, and each individual chapter was moving and interesting. However, I, like many other readers had a lot of trouble following the chronological thrust of the story. I had a difficult time keeping track of the individual characters, and would read a section, only to later realize that I was picturing one person when that section was actually following a different person.

So, although I can completely understand those readers who have raved about this book, I can’t give it such a high rating myself