Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind

Paper Love chronicles journalist Sarah Wildman's search to uncover the story of Valy Scheftel, her grandfather's former girlfriend who was left behind in Vienna when he escaped the Nazis. The investigation begins with Wildman's discovery of a cache of old letters in her grandmother's papers after her death. Wildman traces her grandfather's escape from Vienna to America in 1938, while simultaneously working to piece together what happened to Valy through archives, documents, and interviews across multiple continents. Her research takes her through archives in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Israel as she attempts to reconstruct Valy's life and fate. The narrative moves between past and present, incorporating excerpts from Valy's letters alongside Wildman's modern-day quest to find answers. Through her journey, Wildman connects with other families who experienced similar separations and losses during the Holocaust. The book explores universal themes about family secrets, lost love, and the complex moral choices people face in times of persecution. It raises questions about memory, survival, and what we owe to the stories of those who came before us.

Readers describe Paper Love as a personal investigation that balances historical research with emotional resonance. The book received 4.0/5 stars on Goodreads (500+ ratings) and 4.4/5 stars on Amazon (100+ ratings). Readers appreciated: - The detailed archival research and documentation - How the author connected past and present through letters - The balance of family history with broader Holocaust context - The focus on one specific story rather than statistics Common critiques: - Pacing drags in the middle sections - Too much detail about the research process itself - Some found the writing style repetitive Several readers noted the book works better as journalism than memoir. One Goodreads reviewer wrote: "The letters themselves are compelling, but the author's personal journey feels less essential." Multiple Amazon reviewers praised how the book humanizes pre-war Jewish life in Vienna through intimate details. LibraryThing readers gave it 3.8/5 stars (50+ ratings), with most commenting on its effectiveness as a detective story.

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📚 Author Sarah Wildman discovered over 70 letters from her grandfather's lost love, Valy Scheftel, while going through a filing cabinet after his death in 2001. ✉️ Valy Scheftel was a medical student in Vienna when she began corresponding with Karl Wildman, and her letters span from 1938-1941, detailing life as a Jewish person during the rise of Nazi power. 🗺️ The search for Valy's story took Sarah Wildman across multiple continents, through archives in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Israel, and the United States. 🏥 Both Karl Wildman and Valy Scheftel were studying to be doctors at the University of Vienna Medical School when they met, though only Karl was able to complete his degree before fleeing Austria. 📜 The book's research uncovered that Valy was one of approximately 20,000 Jews who remained in Vienna after the Anschluss, trapped by circumstances despite desperate attempts to obtain visas to other countries.