Songs from the Suitcase: Inhabiting an Inheritance

Rosanna Moseley Gore had a German Jewish father who escaped Nazi Berlin on a Kindertransport in 1939, a Russian mother who was born in Manchuria, and a beloved Russian grandmother who fled her homeland during the post-revolution civil war. Her childhood in London was unusual. Driving holidays in Europe were normal, friends and family with strong accents were normal, baked beans and rice pudding were not.

When a huge family archive of letters, photographs and documents came to her after her parents died, she realised she had a story to tell . . . of individuals and of how huge world events act upon them. The 'songs' resonate as much now as they did when they were first stashed away in the suitcase.

"This is a gem of a memoir; sparkling, multifaceted, and full of depth and colour. At once a memorial and a meditation, it celebrates one unique family, and the power of ties that bind."

- Heidi Thomas, screenwriter.