The Reunion
A New Book and an Old Photo Help Bring a Family Together
Annette Lawrence was reading The New York Times at her home in Springfield, N.J., on Nov. 4, 2004, when she suddenly shrieked in delight. An article announced that an acclaimed French literary prize, the Renaudot, had been given for the first time since 1925 to a novelist named Irene Nemirovsky, who had perished in World Word II.
Annette immediately recognized Nemirovsky’s name. Her late father, George Ginsberg, had talked often of his cousin from Russia who had became a celebrated writer in France. He lamented that he never knew what happened to her after they lost touch. Now, in the pages of the newspaper, Annette learned not only of her fate, but that she had left behind a manuscript that had just been published, after so many years, as the book Suite Francaise.
Irene's daughter Denise Epstein
Annette and her sister, Bea Slater, immediately tried to contact the publisher and get in touch with Irene’s surviving daughter, Denise Epstein. They sent proof of their family connection: A photograph taken in the 1920s by George Ginsberg’s uncle, Henry, with whom he had been sent to live in America. Traveling in Paris, Henry — at George’s insistence — visited Irene’s family and took a photo of them together. That photo showed the long-lost connection between George Ginsberg and Irene Nemirovksy.
Three days after Annette and Bea sent the photo, Denise Epstein responded. After decades of separation and uncertainty, the two sides of the family — in France and America — connected once more.
In June of 2006, Denise traveled to Washington, D.C., for a dinner at the French embassy honoring her late mother’s accomplishments. Annette, Bea and their family were invited. At that event, the surviving daughters of Irene Nemirovsky and George Ginsberg met for the first time — a reunion that spanned generations, wars, continents and nearly a century
Denise Epstein is visited by Jaime and Diane Bedrin
Two years later, Bea’s daughter and granddaughter, Diane and Jaime Bedrin, returned the favor with a trip to Denise Epstein’s home in Toulouse, France. Jaime, a fluent French speaker and frequent traveler to the country, had begun corresponding with Denise on behalf of her relatives and been invited to visit. Jaime had always wanted to take her mother to France, and the chance to visit with Denise and her daughter (also named Irene) as part of the trip was a powerful incentive. Diane and Jaime went together in May and June of 2008 and chronicled their visit with Denise and her family on the blog Bedrins Abroad.
“Denise’s story is heart-wrenching,” Diane wrote. “To picture these two young girls after the war, wandering in France carrying a valise, hoping to find their mother or father.”
Diane and Jaime spent several days visiting with Denise and her daughter, hearing first hand the full story of Irene Nemirovksy’s life, her work, her daughters’ survival and the long-delayed discovery of a literary masterpiece.
“When we said good-bye to Denise in Toulouse,” Diane wrote, “she thanked us for finding her and said, ‘If there is a God, he has brought my family to France, and now my life is satisfied.’“
