Title: From the Brink of Death & The Gates of Hell
Author: Joseph Hentosz
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
ISBN: 978-1665580458
Pages: 112
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Reviewed by: Christina Avina
Pacific Book Review
Far too often, tragedy becomes a defining moment of people’s lives. Throughout human history, the world has seen tragedies on a global scale, and tragedies which hit too close to home. These tragedies are followed by a person’s path to either overcome that tragedy and find a new happiness in their lives, or sadly to have that tragedy overwhelm them completely.
In author Joseph Hentosz’s From the Brink of Death & The Gates of Hell, the author explores their personal experiences during the years following WWII. Born to an English mother and Polish father, the author as a child went with his mother and two siblings to Poland to live with his soldier father, and discovered a hellish experience they never saw coming. Forced to living a rat-infested cellar, the author recalls two years of brutality at the hands of an alcoholic father and the journey to not only overcome this tragedy, but not let it beat him either. The story also includes a mention of the author’s wife’s journey in Russia as well
This is a heartbreaking and inspiring story all at once. Showing the strength and courage for which the author overcome this adversity was powerful imagery and fantastic delivery on the author’s part. The raw emotions and personal experiences the author portrays in this work is moving and tragic all at once, and showcases how young love in wartime doesn’t always mean a strong family life will follow, and so many people around the world were impacted on a personal level after WWII. Although readers may notice some grammatical errors throughout this book, the emotional impact of the author’s experiences are strong enough to overpower those technicalities, and make for an interesting read.
This is the perfect read for those who enjoy biographies and memoirs, especially personal memoirs regarding family life, tragedy, and are set to the backdrop of post- WWII. As a fan of history and memoirs, it was a captivating story that kept drawing me into the narrative over and over again, and did a great job of relaying these powerful experiences in a short amount of time.
A thought-provoking, historical, and engaging memoir, author Joseph Hentosz’s From the Brink of Death & The Gates of Hell is a must-read story. The gripping tale of the author’s harrowing childhood experiences and the way he and his family overcame such tragedy was a masterful work of expression and an important discussion on family life overall.
