Author of Bittersweet Family Stories of World War II Comes to Oakton

(September 16, 2015) Caroline Heller traces the lives of her family and their circle of intellectuals and dreamers from Central Europe on the eve of World War II to present-day America in her new memoir Reading Claudius. She will take part in a book signing, reading, and discussion, starting at 2 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24, at Oakton Community College’s Skokie campus, 7701 North Lincoln Avenue. The event is presented by the College’s Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS).

Reading Claudius, released in August 2015 by The Dial Press, shares the stories of the struggles of Heller’s family through the darkest days of Hitler’s rule and its aftermath. Her compelling accounts remind us of the power of literature to sustain us during the most challenging of times. The Boston Globe praises the book stating, “[Caroline] Heller plunges us lovingly and convincingly into [a] lost world.”

Copies of the book will be available for purchase at Skokie. Refreshments also will be served.

Heller is the director of the interdisciplinary doctorate program in educational studies at Lesley University, where she is also a professor in the graduate school of education. She resides in Boston with her family.

For more information about Heller’s visit to Oakton, contact Kathleen Carot, WGS program coordinator, at 847.376.7061 or kcarot@oakton.edu.