Safran Foer’s memoir to illuminate family’s Holocaust history

HarperCollins imprint HQ will publish a "heartwrenching" post-Holocaust memoir from the mother of Jonathan Safran Foer, the story of which was the basis for his bestselling 2002 novel, Everything is Illuminated.

HQ executive publisher Lisa Milton acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown, on behalf of Rafe Sagalyn at ICM Partners, to Esther Safran Foer’s I Want You to Know We’re Still Here, with a simultaneous UK and US release slated for April 2020. Crown bought the US rights, with the title sold at auction in seven languages, including French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch and Hebrew.

Esther Safran Foer and her husband arrived in the US in 1949, the only members of their respective families to survive the Holocaust, but their experiences were rarely spoken about. The memoir chronicles a shocking discovery: that her father had a previous wife and a daughter, both of whom were killed in the Holocaust. Safran Foer embarks on a trip to Ukraine, armed with only a black-and-white photograph and a hand-drawn map, to find out more about her half-sister and the family who risked their lives to hide her father during the war.

Milton said: "Esther has written a heartwrenching memoir that will be read for generations to come. She captures the true meaning of family and connection." Safran Foer added: "Facing up to one’s history requires bravery, as well as luck and persistence. There are stories too important to be kept in a personal curiosity box."