Epistolophilia

Julija Šukys is an assistant professor of creative writing at the Department of English at the University of Missouri–Columbia. She is the author of Silence Is Death: The Life and Work of Tahar Djaout (Nebraska, 2007).

"A remarkable work of research, translation, and recovery that tells the story of an unlikely, long-overlooked heroine."-Ned Stuckey-French, Fourth Genre "Epistolophilia is not a typical biography, and Šimaitė was not a typical World War II hero. For readers looking for an unconventional account of the World War II and post-war eras, as well as those interested in women's life writing, Epistolophilia is a nuanced and compelling work."—ForeWord Reviews "Sukys draws liberally from thousands of pages of correspondence and numerous diaries to create a portrait of a deeply thoughtful woman trying to make sense of history and her own life by putting it all to paper. Also of Lithuanian descent, Sukys's own meditations on the power of letters and writing make this a powerful testament to the confluence of history and individual lives and passions."—Publishers Weekly "Sukys is to be commended for providing us with this testament and story of a little known hero, who might otherwise have been overlooked."—Abe Novick, Baltimore Jewish Times "A startling paradox that while Simaite died at 76 before completing her memoirs, Sukys is able to capture Simaite's story while successfully writing an unexpected memoir of her own."—Meredith Wood Bahuriak, PLOP! Review "Sukys is to be commended for providing us with this testament and story of a little known hero. . . . The writing is done with care and precision bringing to life a woman who we might have otherwise overlooked."—Jerusalem Post "A mosaic of Šimaitė's life, Epistolophilia enables readers to create a three-dimensional person with the little information available."—Mélanie Grondin, Montreal Review of Books "An intelligent, humane, and noble book that rescues from obscurity an intelligent, humane, and noble woman. It stands as a testament to the power of reading, writing, compassion, and extraordinary courage."—David Bezmozgis, author of The Free World "With this searching, nuanced biography, Julija Šukys introduces the English-speaking world to a genuine heroine of the Holocaust, while at the same time raising vital questions about the role of trauma, poverty, and ill health on women's literary production."—Susan Olding, author of Pathologies: A Life in Essays "This is an important new take on the legacy of the Holocaust. Eloquent and elegantly written, it reads like a Sebald text but with a voice profoundly its own."—Laura Levitt, professor of Religion, Jewish Studies, and Gender at Temple University

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note on Place Names Part One1. The Woman in the Park 2. Vilnius 3. Correspondence 4. Ona Šimaite's Letters to Marijona Cilvinaite, 19571958 5. Caregiving and Letters Part Two6. A Childhood Tale 7. Russian Letters 8. Everyday Writings Part Three9. Ghetto 10. Mowszowicz 11. Letters to Kazys Jakubenas, 19411943 12. Destruction of the Ghetto Part Four13. Kazys 14. Kazys's Death 15. Alfonsas's Theory Part Five16. Catholicism, Sex, and Sin 17. Mothering Part Six18. Ludelange 19. Freedom 20. Toulouse 21. Letters to New York 22. La Courtine Part Seven23. The Ghetto Library 24. Librarians 25. Writing a Woman's Life Part Eight26. Aldute 27. Family Letters 28. Soviet Schizophrenia 29. Death in Vilnius 30. Paris 1968 31. Single and Crazy Part Nine32. Cormeilles 33. October Works Cited