Customer Reviews

Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal

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Wow! What an incredible story. It's rare for me to "rave" or to liter my opinions with complimentary adjectives and yet, I have been exposed to a book that absolutely demands both...Regina's Closet: finding my grandmother's secret journal is hauntingly beautiful and filled with the kind of raw emotion that reaches out from the pages and touches the reader in a very tangible way.

Author, Diana Raab shares her grandmother's journal, which follows her difficult and frightening experiences in war torn Poland, events of World War I, witnessing the atrocities committed by soldiers, losing all the possessions, the Nazi invasion, the cramped trains evacuees spent weeks riding only to arrive in cities where the natives did not want them and had no reservations about expressing such in the most hurtful of ways. Even as a child, Regina was not sparred this degrading hostility. Over and over again she is forced to make adult decisions and each time her incredible strength and unusual ability to understand the ways of the world shines through the darkness that surrounded her. The family eventually immigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where things remained tense between her grandparents, but Diana wouldn't realize until years later, while reading the journal the extent of her grandmother's marital unhappiness.

Meticulously and masterfully, Diana has woven her feelings, fears and experiences throughout this extraordinary narrative and the result is this once-in-a-lifetime novel.
Diana found strength and grace in those handwritten, time worn and yellowing pages. She began to see her grandmother in a new light, as she read about the horrific things she had witnessed and the hardships she had endured as a child, she couldn't help but wonder if these things had played a part in her grandmother's decision to take her own life. Growing up, Diana was always closer to her grandmother...she spent a great deal of time with Regina and had fond memories of things her grandmother shared with her. At ten years old, Diana was home alone with her grandmother when Regina took an overdose of sleeping medication. Years later, Diana would have an exceptional opportunity to reconnect with her grandmother, through the secret journal.

Regina (grandmother) was a true hero..wise beyond her years, with a quiet strength that crossed the generations via the words of her journal and influenced her darling grand-daughter, giving her courage and providing solace and sanctuary. She could not have known that years after penning the diary and many years after her death, her reflections would reach millions of readers. I applaud Diana Raab for recognizing the significance and beauty of her grandmother's words and for taking the initiative to share this intimate journey with us. The author has definitely inherited her grandmother's way with words and allowed her heart to flow freely within the pen strokes that created this literary masterpiece.

I recommend "Regina's Closet: finding my grandmother's secret journal" to all readers, everywhere...don't miss this heart warming, inspiring and life-affirming book-- this is one you will want to share with everyone!

Regina's Closet is the story of two women: Diana Raab and her grandmother, Regina Klein. "I was ten years old the morning I found my grandmother dead," Raab writes of the horrifying discovery. Regina Klein killed herself. Why? That was the question that haunted Diana's young life. It wasn't until she was 42, when her mother gave her the 50-page "retrospective journal" her grandmother had written, that Diana began to piece together Regina Klein's life.

Regina's Closet is largely made up of the story of a brave, independent young girl born in the Ukraine in 1903. Eleven at the beginning of World War I, she lived through the terrible days of Russian invasion and occupation, the nightmarish scourge of cholera, and the looming threat of starvation. By 1916, Regina's mother was dead of cholera and her father and brothers had abandoned Regina and her younger sister. The two children managed to get to Vienna, where they were taken into an orphanage. Regina graduated from high school, worked in a bank, and was accepted into medical school. When she ran out of money, she married Samuel Klein and had a child (Eva, Diana's mother). Displaced by the Nazi occupation of Austria in 1938, the family fled to Paris and finally to New York, where Samuel Klein opened a store. Eva grew up and married, Diana was born, and the two families lived together in apparent contentment--until that cataclysmic day in 1964 when ten-year-old Diana finds her grandmother dead.

The narrative of Regina Klein's life--richly detailed and told in her own voice through the pages of her journal--seems to be the story of a strong, resourceful, self-confident, self-determined woman. But why did she kill herself? After studying her grandmother's journal and assembling other documents and facts about her life, Raab finally concludes that there was a family history of manic-depressive behavior, in her grandmother, her mother, and also in herself. "After arriving at the end of my grandmother's journal," Raab writes, "I understand how a slow accumulation of a history filled with hardships and horror could result in sudden actions, seemingly inexplicable yet somehow logical, such as suicide."

Throughout Regina's Closet, Raab brackets her grandmother's riveting first-hand account with elements of her own: the story of Diana's childhood adoration of her beautiful grandmother, the young Diana's delight in her first job (a banking job, like that of her grandmother), the adult Diana's own depression when she's diagnosed with breast cancer. She also includes important elements of the chaotic events that shaped Regina's childhood and adult life, so that we have an understanding not just of the personal history but of the social and political history of the times.

This is not an elegant book, for Regina's journal entries are neither lyrical nor stylishly embellished. But Regina's plain, bone-dry prose lays bare the horrific details of war in a way that a more self-consciously artful style could not. And for me, it is the duplex story, the counterpointing of grandmother's and granddaughter's narratives, that makes Regina's Closet an interesting read. "The journey has helped me realize," Raab writes, "that those who have survived severe childhood traumas continue to live with the pain until the day they die. It is with this new understanding that I will hold Regina's soul close to my heart."

To a whole new generation of young adults in America, World War II is very ancient history and something that they do not perceive as having any relevance to their lives and interests. If for that reason alone, "Regina's Closet" by essayist, memorist and poet Diana M. Raab deserves as large a readership as possible. The source for "Regina's Closet" is a journal kept by Diana's grandmother, plus her own memories and their very special connection as family. It wasn't until the journal fell into Diana's hands that she learned of her grandmother's past, starting with World War I in Poland, to the tragic death of Regina's mother, to her trials and tribulations as an orphan, and her eventual immigration to Vienna and then on to the United States. The entries from Regina's journal are in italic with Diana providing an illuminating commentary. The result is a compelling narrative account of a most remarkable woman who lived through some very harrowing and difficult times. A fascinating read from beginning to end, "Regina's Closet" is a welcome and very highly recommended addition to community library 20th Century Biography collections.

The discovery of her grandmother's diary, three decades after her suicide, leads Diana Raole on a journey into her grandmother's past. The diary reveals many secrets about her grandmother's life, answering some questions Diana wished she could have asked her grandmother personally, but presenting more questions than answers. Diana seeks to fill in the blanks by interviewing family members and friends who knew her grandmother or had heard stories about her.

The author interweaves excerpts from her grandmother's diary with facts gleaned from others and her own personal thoughts and observations in a unique presentation of historical significance and personal reflection. Diana finds the dairy at a time in her own life when she is in need of support and guidance for her life. Journeying back into her grandmother's past helps her find her way in the present. 5 stars.

All of us have locked closets where family secrets lay untouched and buried under long forgotten or never known memories of family structure. An event may happen that springs open the door spilling contents in the light of day.
Some will be horrified and try to make desperate attempts to shovel it all back inside and lock the door forever. Diana Raab,a brave woman, had the courage to take contents from her grandmother's closet to explore each piece and look for a connection and a meaning of her own life. Regina's Closet is
a moving story of human devastation where the horrors of war separate and destroy families and scatter them all over the world. While so many die, some are able to survive. Regina Klein, Diana's grandmother,was a survivor. Diana finds Regina's journal in a closet and because of it, she is able to begin to understand her grandmother's life and her own as well.

Nothing prepares us in life to experience what Diana's grandmother, Regina,experienced as a young girl.but her secret journal gives us glimpses of times we hope will never come again. This book held my attention from the first page. Although at times, there were voids of space because either Regina had not recorded or pages were lost. Diana
does a great job of moving us along in sprite of the time loss.Diana has a wonderful connection to her grandmother and through her brave explorations has brought meaning to Regina's life. This book is one to read because all of come from others whose lives remain in shadows. Finding and exploring the shadows help to shed light unto ourselves.
Linda Branch, Ph.D.

There are many words that can be used to describe this book: beautiful, sad, sweet, wonderful...but all will pale in comparison once you sit down and read Regina's vivid journal.

The Author, Diana Raab's, grandmother was her caretaker until she was ten years old. They had the most amazing relationship, making it all the more horrible when you find out at the beginning of this book that Regina took her own life when Diana was just a little girl. Young Diana had been left with so many questions that plagued her own life as she grew into adulthood that she truly couldn't believe her good fortune when her mother passed along her beloved grandmother's journal.

The author was going through her own horrifying illness as she opened the pages and sought solace and warmth - as well as a way to reconnect - with her grandmother. As the story unfolds, we learn of Regina's amazing strength, dealing with a mother who treated her coldly, at best, and a father who made choices after it was already too late.

We are told of the real life events as World War I started spreading through Regina's small hometown of Kalush. We see the anger on the streets and the blood flow as Regina's family, friends and neighbors watched their world disappear. We go through illness, war, pain, and travel into Vienna, as Regina tries to save her own life and the life of her sister. As we continue, the German soldiers begin knocking on the door as the atrocities of World War II come into being.

But, I must say, even though the historical pictures and tales are amazing to read about, the true color, flavor, and heart comes from Regina, herself. This author's grandmother was a true heroine when they were in incredibly short supply. She pulled her way through nightmarish times with her strength and her smarts. I found this woman beyond incredible, and I am so sorry that her ending came in sadness.

I applaud the author and thank her for letting the world see what a truly wonderful woman her grandmother was. I also long for everyone to leave journals behind for their children and grandchildren. Think of all the wisdom...all the incredible stories that have been lost over time. I would savor every moment that I could get with my grandparents and I would have loved for them to leave their stories behind so that I could understand the power of their time on this Earth.

Reviewed by Connie Anderson

Subtitled: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal

Diana Raab's grandmother Regina took her own life in 1964 when Diana was about 10. Diana lost someone who loved her dearly--and gave her unconditional love.

In the 1990s Diana's mother was cleaning out a closet and found her mother journal, sheaves of paper in a folder. When she came to America, Regina wrote about her life in retrospect, growing up in Poland and Vienna during WWI--about war as seen through the eyes of a child.

The Reinharz family was parents, two older brothers, Regina and younger sister Beronia. Diana was shocked to read what her dear grandmother had gone through as a child of war. Mother had died from cholera, brothers left to start their own lives, and separated from their sick father, Beronia and Regina were left to fend for themselves as adolescents. A powerful and driven young girl, Regina knew if they were going to survive, she would have to make it happen.

Although about war, the story has such power of survival, of second effort at every turn. This young girl was never loved by her own mother, who resented her being born, and treated her horribly at every opportunity. Regina found that often she encountered women who didn't like her, and said "apparently she was not good a making women happy." What scars are left when you are not loved by a parent? How long do those scars stay, and how to they show themselves?

Regina knocked on doors asking for food, a place to live, a job, schooling, etc. She was in charge of herself and her sister--and she was not yet a teenager.

In addition to the journal, Raab intersperses some geography and history to give perspective. For example, WW1 started in 1914, lasted four years, and 9 million lives were lost.

Additionally, Diana Raab teaches others how to write their own memoir, and believes everyone "has a story to tell," if just encouraged.

Most war stories are not told from a child's point of view--but don't let that scare you off from reading this wonderful account of one brave young girl's life.

Armchair Interview says: This is a page-turner--a story so unbelievable that is hard to realize it is real.

Regina's Closet is a rare glimpse into the private world of a young Jewish girl who lived through the nightmare of life in Eastern Europe in the years prior to World War II. Regina overcame so much in her lifetime, only to succomb in the end to the inevitable effects of rejection and persecution. Rarely do we get to hear such a story in the first person. The sadness I felt for Regina, combined with the envy I felt for Diana Raab at having the gift of obtaining Regina's own diary, makes for a wonderful read of this important story.

Regina's Closet is a most compelling, educational, and truly awe-inspiring book. Diana Raab tells the story of how finding her beloved grandmother's diary which was replete with stories of hardship, survival, and the overcoming of adversity while growing up in eastern Europe during World War I and the beginning of World War II. The journal written by Diana's grandmother whose name was Regina subsequently elicited inspiriation for Diana to overcome her own life's challenges. Diana begins the story of Regina's untimely demise taking place when Diana was ten, and then detailed account's in Regina's diary dealing with pogroms in Poland to Nazi persecution in Vienna, and then subsequently emigrating to America and starting a new life in New York City. Regina for the first time in her life was free from political and religious oppression, but the unpleasant memories of the past haunted her for the rest of her life. Diana has us share in her gratification and closure after finding the diary, a key to formerly locked doors of unanswered questions about Regina's life-long struggle of trying to let go of her hard life as a child, teen, and young woman. This book is a must read for all, it teaches us lessons in perseverance and never giving up when the outlook appears bleak, and all odds are against us.

The reason I picked up the book is because my real name is Regina-- so that caught my eye, and also the writing group I belong to suggested it.

This book is an excellent example of what a memoir is and why writers write: to tell the story of people's lives, to try to find meaning in events that seem to make no sense. Throughout the book, Diana Raab tries to put all the pieces of her grandmother's death together through excerpts of the diary and through memories.

The story reminds me of going through my grandmother's closet when I was little and seeing my gramma's fancy dresses of when she younger and would go dancing, and then looking over and seeing this frail woman hanging on to life, and what stories she must have.

The parts about the fleeing the Nazis helped me appreciate my freedom. Here, in 21st Century America, we don't know what it's like to flee our homeland. Some do. But the majority don't.

Also Raab's detailed descriptions help the reader visualize the surroundings and be in the story. I love it when a writer does that.

This is an excellent book and highly recommend it. Every closet tells a story.