On the Doorposts of All Our Houses

<p>Donna Siegel has written an engaging account of remarkable people-our grandparents parents and their siblings. Our family's immigrant experience mirrors those of an entire generation. Recalled with poignancy and humor in these stories they all seem to live again.<br>-Paul R. Schulman author of <i>Large- Scale Policy Making</i> and <i>High Reliability Management: Operating on the Edge</i> with Emery Roe. </p><p> Memoirs have the power to bring the felt reality of the past to life. This is what happens in Donna Siegel's <i>On the Doorposts of All Our Houses</i>. Her memoir is fresh touching and full of pungent details. This heartfelt and humorous memoir retrieves a precious piece of American Jewish history. <br>-Emily Fox Gordon author of <i>Mockingbird Years: A Life in and Out of Therapy</i> and <i>Are you Happy? A Childhood Remembered</i>. </p><p>Two immigrant families escape from their anti-Semitic homelands and journey to America. They don't know a word of English yet they come here to establish a new and better life. The family from Poland settles in Omaha Nebraska. The Russian family puts down roots in Sioux City Iowa. What happens next? </p><p>Donna Siegel tells how the two families connect and become her grandparents parents uncles and aunts. She offers a whimsical account of growing up in the corn belt with her tightly knit Jewish family. </p><p>She confesses that her life doesn't exactly follow the plan. Despite the piano and tap dancing lessons with which she was lavished Hollywood never needs a Jewish Shirley Temple. </p><p>She doesn't manage to grow long legs and become a beauty queen. She does marry the prince but they don't live happily ever after. Despite these disappointments she succeeds in converting lemons to <i>limoncello</i>. </p><p>Prepare to laugh and cry as you meander through the houses of Donna Siegel's life.</p>