Topic: Alina Adams Book Presentation of “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region”
With his dying breath, Lena’s father asks his family a cryptic question: “You couldn’t tell, could you?” After his passing, Lena stumbles upon the answer that changes her life forever.
As her revolutionary neighbor mysteriously disappears during Josef Stalin’s Great Terror purges, 18-year-old Regina suspects that she’s the Kremlin’s next target. Under cover of the night, she flees from her parents’ communal apartment in 1930s Moscow to the 20th century’s first Jewish state, Birobidzhan, on the border between Russia and China. Once there, Regina has to grapple with her preconceived notions of socialism and Judaism while asking herself the eternal question: What do we owe each other? How can we best help one another? While she contends with these queries and struggles to help Birobidzhan establish itself, love and war are on the horizon.
Tuesday, August 12th, 2025 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm Pacific Time via Zoom
Speaker: Alina Adams, Author
New York Times Bestselling author Alina Adams draws on her own experiences as a Jewish refugee from Odessa, USSR as she provides readers a rare glimpse into the world’s first Jewish Autonomous Region. My Mother’s Secret is rooted in detailed research about a little known chapter of Soviet and Jewish history while exploring universal themes of identity, love, loss, war, and parenthood. Readers can expect a whirlwind journey as Regina finds herself and her courage within one of the century’s most tumultuous eras. Her full biography can be found at alinaadams.com.
Please click on the ‘Register’ button below to register for this free live book talk.
This is a free live book talk brought to you by Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) and the Jewish Community Centre of Victoria (JCCV) .
Potato Latkes (Take-Out only) will be the only item available from the Deli during LATKE MANIA, for 3 weeks from December 2nd to 19th.
JCC Victoria 