What They Saved is the very read­able, true sto­ry of Nan­cy Miller’s quest into a murky past to unrav­el the mys­tery of a col­lec­tion of dis­parate items found after her father’s death and, in so doing, to dis­cov­er her roots. Trac­ing minute clues, her jour­ney car­ries us back in time to areas as diverse as the Ukraine, Kishinev (Mol­davia), Mem­phis, Argenti­na, the Bronx, and the Low­er East Side of New York City.

One over­ar­ch­ing ques­tion remained: why hadn’t her par­ents ever spo­ken about these ances­tors? Through her jour­ney she dis­cov­ered, sought out, and met the grand­par­ents and cousins whom she did not know even exist­ed.

This unusu­al mem­oir is well worth read­ing. For one thing, who knows – this book might encour­age the read­er to dis­cov­er the source of his or her own mys­te­ri­ous life artifacts.