Grace Revealed

Greg Archer's memoir has been touted as the Polish version of "Eat, Pray, Love" and I can kinda see that. Archer's memoir is an exploration of his family's tragic past, starting with the deportation of his family from Poland to a slave labor camp, to homelessness, death and despair, salvation in Africa and finally a journey to America. Archer brings to life one of the most under-reported atrocities of the last century, Stalin's horrid treatment and murder of millions of Poles. It's really eye opening. As a history student who's traveled to Russia, I thought about how glossed over this MAJOR event has always been. Stalin was responsible for more deaths than Hitler could ever begin to take credit for, but Stalin didn't ever seem to catch nearly as bad a rap. Archer's story starts in California and over several years finally end in Poland finding the Church his family attended. Greg Archer is witty but I felt like half of his memoir he was poking fun of himself or talking about how awesome all his celebrity encounters were (he was an entertainment journalist). It was a little distracting, but not awful by any means. I thought he did great research and really empathized with his family's plight. An eye opening read and great memoir.

I received this book for free from the publisher in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

The Transplant

This book was like a punch in the gut. Nothing has opened up the immigration issue more than this novel has.

Personally, I never had very strong opinions on immigration and illegals in America. I always thought that everyone deserved a shot at a better life and if they want to come here let them, our forefathers got the chance, why can't they? It doesn't hurt me one iota, illegal immigrants generally take the jobs no one else want anyway. This book however, really made me take another look at the issue, it is sooo much more complicated than that!

This story follows Agata, a young Polish girl who comes to the US as an au pair, dreaming of a better life and Mario, a Mexican who just wants to earn enough money for his mother to get a new kidney. Over the course of about ten years these poor illegal immigrants try to do everything in their power to do the right thing, get legalized, and improve their lives, but time and time again they are shut down. Eventually their paths cross and Agata and Mario have a child. Both of their families disapprove, but they tough it out and try to make it work.

This story is heart wrenching and beautifully crafted. Mario and Agata try soo very hard and you want them to succeed. This story is just a fictional account of what happens to thousands of illegal immigrants every day, it's saddening and something must be done.

A definite eye opener and a must read!