The first half was a shocking fascinating horrendous story of this woman, as a 16 year old in Auschwitz.
Riveting to read.
The second half, although fairly interesting is about her path to healing and life fulfilment.
I got only to 57% then decided enough is enough - for now at least.

Dr Edith Eva Eger is an eminent psychologist whose own experiences as a Holocaust survivor helps her treat patients and allows them to escape the prisons of their own minds.

Edith Eger was just sixteen when the Nazis came to her hometown of Hungry and took the Jewish family to an interment centre and then to Auschwitz. Her parents were then sent to the gas chamber by Joseph Menele. Edith was demanded by Menele to waltz "The Blue Danube" just a few hours after her parents were murdered. Menele rewarded Edith with a small loaf of bread of which she shared with her fellow prisoners.

This is a beautifully written and very moving memoir. It has been divided into four sections: Prison, Escape, Freedom and Healing. How these people who suffered so much, could heal and then go on to make something of their lives like Edith has, beggars belief. This is one very committed woman, who became a therapist, who truly understands people's pain and forgives uniquely. This is not something I would normally read, but I'm really glad that I did. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing and the author Edith Eger for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

**4.5 STARS **

Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

I could never find the right words and phrases to describe what a moving yet uplifting memoir this is. Edith Eger was just 16 years old in 1944 when she entered the gates of hell - Auschwitz. Her grandparents and mother and father were sent to the gas chamber under the direct orders of the infamous Josef Mengele. Under those same orders she was made to dance for Mengele. Although she was terrified, she managed to take her mind back to the outside world, back to when she used to give ballet performances for appreciative audiences. At the end of her performance for Mengele she was thrown a small loaf of bread - and though grateful that she had the extra food to share with her sister Magda and others, she was also relieved that he hadn’t bestowed the same fate on her as her beloved family members.

I won’t go into any more detail, but Edith shares her experiences in Auschwitz , and when liberation finally came, she was discovered among a pile of bodies barely alive.

Man’s inhumanity to man never fails to shock me. The ones who were fortunate enough to survive the death camps, didn’t just need medical intervention for their extreme malnutrition and other physical problems, but more importantly it was the huge psychological scars that would prove the most difficult to heal.

Edith went on to become an eminent psychologist, someone who helped people come to terms with the traumas in their lives, (and she shares many of those cases with us) but she also needed to exorcise the ghosts of her own past too!

I found when I was reading this book, that an involuntary sob would sometimes appear out of nowhere. It was excruciating to read at times, and yet I couldn’t put it down. Desmond Tutu said that this book would leave you forever changed- I’m inclined to agree. Thank you Edith for sharing your courageous and inspiring life story, it’s not something I will forget any time soon.

Thank you so Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK Ebury Publishing for my Arc. I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange.

What can I say about this book. It is amazing, emotional, thought provoking, powerful and important.
It is a story of hope,forgiveness and choice.
I dare anyone to read this book and not be emotionally affected.
This young girl suffered atrocities no one should have to suffer and she survived and boy did she survive.
Not only was she able to heal herself but she went onto healing so many others. My Cognitive Behavioural Therapist suggested I read this book. This wonderful lady who is the author of this book has given so many people the tools to use uto heal themselves and I am proud to say that I am one of them.
I would like to thank the author Edith Eger, Penguin Random House UK and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

It’s difficult to find the words to describe this book. It’s deeply disturbing at times and immensely uplifting and thought provoking at others. It describes how we have a choice on how we react to difficult and sometime horrific situations.

It will make you cry that’s for sure. There are some truly harrowing details and the horrific experiences Edit Egar went through, but at 90 she has shown that it is possible to not only survive trauma, but to thrive and she is the proof .

It also shows how she has helped so many others with their own troubles and i feel it gives a unique way of thinking in that we are all much stronger than we think we are and sometimes it’s our own internal attitude that holds us back. Really thought provoking.

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

#TheChoice #NetGalley A heartbreaking story of horror and tragedy that turned into an uplifting and inspiring book about someone who saw a reason to live in the most terrifying and desperate circumstances. It was hard to imagine at times that this was the true life story of the author rather than a gruesome horror story. For someone who was left to die in a pile of bodies, to then rebuild not only her body but her mind and to become the woman she is today is a remarkable story and a testament to the sheer determination she had and still has and for her to then use her suffering to help others is truly incredible. A few too many stories about her patients in my opinion although I appreciate that she continued to heal herself through healing others. A truly amazing lady.

A haunting novel of perseverance, courage, and triumph. Edith's brave words will stay with me for quite some time.

I’ve read an awful lot of holocaust books but I think because I knew this was a true story it made it much more harrowing. Hard to read in parts but compelling

Tragic, sad, heart breaking but compelling reading . Hard to read in places, massively upsetting. Life in a concentration camp and life afterwards. How people deal with, and learn to live with, traumatic experiences.

Truly the most inspirational book I've ever read dealing with the horrors that man inflicts on fellow man, and of survival all and growth. You'll learn a lot about themself reading this book.

Thank you for the advance copy of 'The Choice'.

This was an insightful memoir and I found it very moving and an excellent record of a young girl's experience of Auschwitz. It was fascinating to learn of Edith's life after the war and how her teenage experiences clearly shaped the rest of her life and her approach to counselling others.

I wanted to learn more about Edith and am impressed that she is still giving lectures and advising others today. She has obviously helped so many people throughout her life and should be much admired.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As soon as I received the email from netgalley.co.uk advertising this book, I clicked on the link to request it as fast as I can, and I'm so glad I did.

The Choice is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching and an emotional memoir written by a beautiful, brave person Dr Edith Eger. When I first started this book, I assumed that it would be wholly about Dr Eger's experience in Auschwitz concentration camp, I was confused when this part of the novel was a quarter of the book. However, I quickly noticed that this book had four sections; Prison, Escape, Freedom and Healing. Despite having a good knowledge of the concentration camps, I never learned about life after liberation for these prisoners; I was aware that life for these prisoners after the war was not comfortable. Many were left as refugees turned away by countries who were left bankrupt after the war. I found it interesting to learn more about life after the second world war in this memoir as it made me more aware of this issue.

I was hooked to this book from the first word; I wanted to take my time with the novel and absorb every single word that was written, at the same time, I could not put the book down, and I wanted for Dr Eger to write that she was able to get revenge on her captors. Sadly, I know this was not the case, but I admire Dr Eger so much for taking her experience and helping other people, which she includes towards the end of the novel. I strongly urge everyone to read this novel.

A heartbreaking book that filled me with a mixture of horror, sadness but also awe. That the author would be able to move on and not only help herself but also spend her life helping others is inspiring to say the least.

As a young girl the author and her family were living in Hungary when the Nazi's put into force their horrific plans for the Jewish families living in Europe, first by excluding them from activities and locations and then segregation, herding them like animals into secure locations. What happened thereafter is a well documented crime against humanity.

The authors heart-wrenching and horrific portrayal of the day to day life for both her and her sister inside Auschwitz/Birkenau the most notorious of the death camps is harrowing to say the least. Following on from there they were force marched to a labour camp where on liberation they were both pulled from a pile of bodies barely able to make it known they were still alive.

Even after liberation it still wasn't over for them, they were weak and ill, they faced accusing looks and survivors guilt for making it when so many had perished.

The second part of the book shows how the author went on to make a home, have a family, an inspiring and successful career as a trauma specialist and to gain acceptance.

I get the feeling we could all learn a lot from this book.

I would say this book is beautifully written but that seems to be an inadequate disservice to Edith Eger who opens up her heart and soul to tell the story of her life. Not only does she survive Auschwitz, but she goes on to create a stable life in America for herself and her family, achieving world recognition in her career dedicated to helping others overcome trauma. What an incredible inspirational woman and what a triumph over evil. Her book has helped me through my own difficult period in mourning the recent loss of my husband. It has made me realise I can continue to dwell on his last difficult months, or I can focus on all the beautiful times we had together and the memories and love he has left me. Thank you Edith.

A very deep and intense book that I feel that any review won't do it justice. The author is a holocaust survivor and obviously survived unspeakable and harrowing horror in her young life. As with any traumatic experiences there is a fall out and it is how Edith manages to deal with this in her later life that is not only interesting but how such experiences can be used in every day life coming to terms with general living. She becomes a very successful world renowned psychologist but needs every ounce of her strength to come to terms with her own past in her own way.

An amazing powerful read which quite honestly will affect every reader differently and, as I mentioned earlier, no words can do it justice, but read it and be inspired at what the human spirit can endure, survive and flourish.

It would be impossible to read this book and not be moved by its honesty, depth of understanding and its range of experience. The author reveals the shocking events of her youth during the Second World War and gradually applies her strength of will and analysis to her experiences. She details living through the consequences of her subsequent refusal to acknowledge her imprisonment both mentally and physically, and eventually comes to an acceptance of her reactions and herself through her work with others in her psychotherapy practice.

I found the descriptions of her time in the concentration camp gruelling but moving in their starkness and simplicity. They show her humanity in the face of atrocious treatment and I expected this to form the body of the work. However what makes this book unusual and ultimately inspiring is the importance placed on working through the trauma in later years, often through the problems faced by those she is helping after the war, and striving to triumph over her experiences. A fascinating and uplifting book, which I found absolutely riveting.

Edith Eger is a stunning example of what a person can do when desperate and also determined. I would have liked a bit more of the book to be devoted to life in the POW camp and a little less about the psychiatric information but I did find the book very inspiring. I cannot imagine what Edith went through in that camp and the horrors she saw. The fact that she has become such a respected Psychologist is a testament to her strength and willpower. Reading about her patients in later life was extremely interesting to me and I found I could identify with some of them.
All in all, a fantastic read by an extremely strong lady who, in my opinion, deserves recognition for her work.

In a word: life-changing. This is a memoir I can't believe hasn't been written before; the 90 year old author may have needed her whole life to get to the point where she could tell her story, but it sends chills down my spine to think how close we might have come to never hearing it.
I've read quite a few books about Auschwitz - novels, biographies, survivors' accounts - but there was material here so harrowing that I had to put the Kindle down and go do something else before I could continue. That isn't the whole story however - Dr Eger spends the bulk of this work on the aftermath of the war and how she made her life anew. She writes with humour and heart about herself, her patients and graciously thanks the people who filled her life with hope and joy, rather than dwelling on the monsters who took so much from her. She doesn't shy away from suffering, but refuses to let it be the only side of the coin. Nor does she flit blithely from horror to healing, which could leave a reader feeling inadequate; she shows us the sheer graft of reshaping one's life, so that we can learn that joy is within our grasp, no matter how weak we feel, if we are willing to work and progress and backslide and work some more.

I was fascinated by her refusal to use the D in PTSD, because pain and rage and despair are surely the normal response to trauma, not a disorder.

When I finished 'The Choice, I looked the author up online and was moved to tears when I found an old black and white photograph of her doing the splits in the sunshine, a photo she referenced in the book. Dr Edith Eger is a rare spirit it seems and I feel my life is better for having found this book and shared her story. Please read this; it's a gift to all of us.

A wonderful, moving and inspiring book. A story of true courage and compassion, offering hope and light amongst the darkest days of history. Although some of the things contained within are difficult to read the overall message is one of triumph. This book is well worth the time it takes to read

I can not describe this book.

YOU *need* to discover this book for yourself; it's visceral.

I would have given it 7 stars if I could.