I and the Village: Daughter of the Kibbutz traces Estee Cohen Laub’s life from her early childhood in Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk to her family’s tangled past in Europe, shaped by war, migration, and loss. The memoir blends daily kibbutz life with the weight of inherited trauma. It moves between her own coming of age and the stories of her parents and grandparents who survived upheaval, exile, and the Holocaust. Laub paints a vivid picture of communal childhood, the rules that shaped it, and the emotional undercurrents that ran beneath a system built on ideals of equality and collective identity.

Laub’s writing is simple on the surface, yet it carries flashes of raw honesty that hit without warning. I found myself smiling at the small scenes of childhood, the games, the kids’ arguments, the curiosity, all of it wrapped in that strange mix of innocence and structure. Other times, the mood dropped fast as the family history unfurled. I kept thinking about how she held those two worlds together, the bright kibbutz sun and the long shadow of Europe, and how much strength it must have taken to look back without flinching. Her voice feels steady, even when the memories shake.

What stayed with me most was Laub’s openness. She lets the reader sit with her confusion, her longing for affection, her complicated relationship with her parents, and her deep pull toward dance. The prose wanders at times, but I didn’t mind. It felt true to the way memory behaves. Some scenes are so detailed that I saw them as clearly as if I were standing there, and other parts drift past like half-remembered dreams. I appreciated that looseness. It gave the story a human rhythm. I felt a quiet ache through much of the book, mostly because Laub writes about loss not with drama, but with this soft and steady truthfulness that lingers.

I And the Village is a good fit for anyone who loves personal histories, stories of survival, and reflections on what it means to grow up inside a system bigger than yourself. Laub’s memoir will also appeal to readers drawn to cultural history, communal living, or family stories shaped by war. I closed the book feeling moved and grateful for the glimpse into a life both ordinary and extraordinary in its own way.

Pages: 224 |  ISBN : 978-1837944620