The Secrets My Mother Kept: A gripping heart-wrenching historical novel based on a true story

"This is one of the best books I’ve ever read and it is so well written. What an amazing story and I am very grateful the author shared it with the world." - Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"So good! Take the time to dive in! Elana and her mother left extraordinary lives. This historical story touches the soul of readers." - Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One fateful choice changed their lives forever.

Germany, 1946. Still picking up the pieces in the aftermath of World War II, Franka and her infant daughter Danka hastily leave their home in Helmstadt and make their way to the displaced persons camp in Bergen-Belsen.

Against all odds, Franka narrowly survived the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, only to leave the man who sheltered her for a desperate attempt to track down the remnants of her Jewish family. She knows not to expect much, yet in her heart, she still clings to the hope that some of them are waiting for her among the thousands of survivors looking to start their lives anew.

But it’s not what Franka is leaving behind that will change her fate—it’s what she is heading towards.

Israel, 1976. Since she was six years old, Elana Rosenfeld felt like an outsider. Adopted by a childless couple when she was just thirteen months old, she knew nothing of her birth parents, their origins—and hers. But whenever she asks her adoptive parents for answers, she always gets the same response: “When you grow up, you’ll know.”

Then, a letter arrives at the kibbutz carrying an unfamiliar name, sending Elana on a worldwide search after all the secrets her mother kept.

Based on the true story of a Holocaust survivor and her estranged daughter, Elana Milman’s The Secrets My Mother Kept is a haunting saga of brave and unrelenting women, all the way up to its heart-wrenching conclusion.