A Distant Heartbeat: A War, a Disappearance, and a Family's Secrets

On May 20, 1938, a young man from the Bronx informs his parents that he is leaving for the Catskills to begin his new job as a waiter. Instead, he sails for Europe to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, the opening round in the fight against Hitler and Mussolini. The man, Dave Lipton--the author's uncle--sends letter after letter home detailing his hopes and begging for forgiveness. He never receives a reply.

Decades later, Eunice Lipton stumbles upon clues for this silence, uncovering details of Dave's exhilarating political life in New York, his shuttered romantic life, and his deep friendship with another volunteer. A Distant Heartbeat tells a tale of passion and heroism, centered on a fierce competition between brothers, a packet of missing letters, and the unforeseen results of family betrayal.

Author: Eunice Lipton
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 04/01/2016
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.60w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780826356581

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2016
Shelf Awareness 04/08/2016

About the Author
Lipton, Eunice: - Eunice Lipton is the author of Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model and Her Own Desire and, more recently, French Seduction: An American's Encounter with France, Her Father, and the Holocaust. She lives in New York and Paris.