Reviews

“Bernick’s sto­ry­telling is ambi­tious and intel­lec­tu­al­ly stim­u­lat­ing. She con­tem­plates real­i­ty and truth as she reflects on inter­views with her par­ents and sib­lings, inte­grat­ing research on trau­ma, mem­o­ry, and the impact of divorce on chil­dren.”

“Sto­ry­telling isn’t just how we con­struct our iden­ti­ties; sto­ries are our iden­ti­ties,” remarked John Holmes, Pro­fes­sor Emer­i­tus of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Water­loo. In her mem­oir, Depar­ture Sto­ries, Elisa Ber­nick uses Holmes’s asser­tion as an epi­graph, which remains cen­tral as she recounts her trau­mat­ic child­hood grow­ing up Jew­ish and with divorced par­ents in Min­neso­ta in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Set against Bernick’s discussion of Minnesota’s horrific history of antisemitism is her more positive take on what this does to outsiders. Is it possible, she asks, that Jews and other victims of long-term trauma have a predisposition for resilience?”

“Under the norms of Minnesota Nice, the author explains, “it’s not polite to acknowledge difference. It’s considered rude, like staring at someone who’s in a wheelchair. Differences make Minnesotans uncomfortable, and the word itself is a common Minnesota pejorative — a not-so-secret code that politely expresses your discomfort at something outside of your White Christian experience … thanks to Minnesota Nice, unless I brought up my Jewish difference, neither my religion nor my difference existed.”

“A collection of powerful essays–filtered through the traditions of a Judaic perspective–that shed light into the life of a writer/journalist and her complicated relationship to family.“

“Departure Stories by Elisa Bernick–a writer/journalist from Minnesota–is an inviting, deeply poignant first memoir that offers an intergenerational smorgasbord of well-balanced, well-portioned personal stories, anecdotes, jokes, Jewish history and heritage—and insight.”

Reading Between the Lines

BY KATHLEEN GERARD

“An informative, moving, and uplifting story of resilience and forgiveness—and the power of storytelling.”

‘Elisa Bernick’s new book, “Departure Stories,” is unique among the many memoirs—from Mary Karr to Julia Child to Stephen King—that I’ve read. The book is seasoned with history, statistics, science, philosophy, jokes, and recipes. The first half is primarily Elisa’s story growing up Jewish in “Minneapolis…the most antisemitic city in the country” with an abusive mother and an emotionally absent father. The second half of the book is a thoughtful treatise on how what we remember and what we forget shapes us and our lives.’

By the Book BTX

REBECCA BENNETT

“A moving memoir by a Minnesota native about her complicated childhood, and her complicated mother. “

“In the acknowledgments of her thoughtful and moving memoir, “Departure Stories,” Elisa Bernick thanks a mentor who counseled her not to turn her story into a novel. Readers, too, will want to thank this person, because the originality of the approach taken here is a big part of the book’s charm. And considering the sad story it tells, “charming” itself is an accomplishment.”

“Bernick’s nimble storytelling has much to love. It’s an insightful and spot-on mélange of perfectly preserved stories on place, history, and family.”

“Journalist Bernick (The Family Sabbatical Handbook) delivers a poignant, witty, and often painful chronicle of growing up in a Jewish family in a predominantly Christian suburb of Minneapolis in the 1960s. She and her family were tolerated but certainly not accepted, being treated to a “different perspective of Minnesota’s brand of ‘nice.’ ”