This memoir/biography is done in an interesting format: there are reflections from the author as well as pieces from the journal the author's grandma started before committing suicide. Raab does an excellent job interweaving her grandma's story with her own.

Regina's story is fascinating. She could've excelled at so many things, but the world wars tore apart her family and derailed her plans. Regina planned to be a doctor and was well on her way to meeting that goal despite being essentially orphaned. Her reflections reveal her to be a very determined young woman who didn't let the hardships she faced get her down. So what circumstances caused her to take her own life after all those years of survival? While Regina's Closet doesn't provide that answer, it does give many insights into Regina's life. ( )

When Diana was ten years old, she entered her grandmother’s bedroom one morning to request permission to go and play with a friend. When she was unable to awaken her grandmother, she became very frightened and called her mother. It was later determined that Diana’s grandmother Regina had committed suicide by overdosing on medication.

Many years later, when Diana was an adult, her mother brought her Regina’s journal, which had been found in a pile of papers in her closet. Between this journal and interviews with family, Diana was able to piece together much of the life of the grandmother she had loved and lost.

The book basically consists of Regina’s journal relating her life from a young age until she left for America. Diana has interspersed notes giving journal passages historical or family context, making them even more meaningful. The very beginning and very end of the book are also told from Diana’s perspective, beginning with the suicide and ending with her memories of Regina.

This book was fascinating and very well written. I found Regina’s life fascinating and gained insight as to what might have spurred along her depression. I highly recommend this book as the story of an incredible, if ultimately tragic, life.

For the full review:
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2008/07/reginas-closet-book-review/ ( )

If ever there was a granddaughter who loved her grandmother, Diana M. Raab is that granddaughter. In her book, she lovingly weaves a memorial to her grandmother Regina through her own remembrances as the precious journal Raab’s mother found in the closet, decades after Regina’s suicide. Without judgment or justification the author allows her grandmother to tell the story of her childhood and early adulthood. When outside historical or family information could be found, Raab filled in some of the gaps, but what was especially poignant was how Regina’s journal brought her grandmother to life for her.

Diana M. Raab was 10 years old the day that her grandmother committed suicide. She discovered her grandmother’s body in bed when she went to her to ask if she could go out. She was home alone. What a terrifying experience for a young child. To exacerbate that, she didn’t discover the truth behind the death until she over heard her mother whispering to friends. There is no way that such an experience couldn’t leave a lasting impact on one’s life. It seems that it caused Raab to be a strong, loving woman. Although her own parents were distant, she went on to raise a close knit family with three children. It was only after she read Regina’s journal that she discovered from where her fortitude, her writing skills, and her nurturing love for her children came.

I read this book in less than a day. Regina’s story along with the author’s incites were compelling and freshly written. Often when a person commits suicide, that is how they are remembered or talked about. Raab gives life to her grandmother’s entire story in Regina’s Closet. Reading this book made me think about my Uncle Randy, who committed suicide exactly one week after my 21st birthday - on his father’s 75th birthday. Randy had been very sick for a very long time before he died. I wish that he had left a journal or something to reassure my grandfather that his suicide was not my grandfather’s fault or a final punishment for something he did. Survivors, in my experience, blame themselves a thousand times over for what happened. Rarely do they stop to consider that while they were the ones who had to pick up the pieces, this wasn’t about them at all. Raab even expands on that concept. Upon reflection she discovered that Regina gave her a gift after her death - a beautiful relationship between Diana and her grandfather Samuel. Where there is death, there is new life.

I would highly recommend Regina’s Closet to everyone. Although Regina did commit suicide, there is a rich history in the story. Much of the book takes place in Eastern Europe, and tells the story of lonely and unloved young girl growing up in a Jewish family scrambling to survive World War I and the beginnings of World War II. What was simply a journal Regina kept during those years became a treasure for the author, who wrote a love letter in return. Simply beautiful.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/84-reginas-closet/ ( )

Wow! What an incredible story. It’s rare for this reviewer to “rave” or to liter my opinions with complimentary adjectives and yet, I have been exposed to a book that absolutely demands both…Regina’s Closet: finding my grandmother’s secret journal is a hauntingly beautiful story of two women, Diana Raab and her beloved Grandmother, Regina Klein. You will smile and cry. You will be shocked and astounded, the narrative is filled with such raw emotion that it reaches out from the pages and touches the reader in a very tangible way.

Author, Diana Raab shares her grandmother’s journal, which follows her difficult and frightening experiences in war torn Poland, events of World War I, witnessing the Russian invasion, atrocities committed by soldiers, the death of her mother in the cholera epidemic, the cramped trains evacuees spent weeks riding only to arrive in cities where the natives did not want them and had no reservations about expressing such in the most hurtful of ways. Even as a child, Regina was not sparred this degrading hostility. Over and over again she is forced to make adult decisions and each time her incredible strength and unusual ability to understand the ways of the world shines through the darkness that surrounded her. The family eventually imigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where things remained tense between her grandparents, but Diana wouldn’t realize until years later, while reading the journal the extent of her grandmother’s marital unhappiness.

Meticulously and masterfully, Diana has woven her feelings, fears and experiences throughout this extraoridnary narrative and the result is this once-in-a-lifetime story. Diana found strength and grace in those handwritten, time worn and yellowing pages. She began to see her grandmother in a new light, as she read about the horrific things she had witnessed and the hardships she had endured as a child, she couldn’t help but wonder if these things had played a part in her grandmother’s decision to take her own life. Growing up, Diana was always closer to her grandmother…she spent a great deal of time with Regina and had fond memories of things her grandmother shared with her. In 1964, at ten years old, Diana was home alone with her grandmother when Regina took an overdose of sleeping medication. The loss of her beloved grandmother had a profound affect on the young Diana and years later she would have an exceptional opportunity to reconnect with her grandmother, through the secret journal.

Regina (grandmother) was a true hero..wise beyond her years, with a quiet strength that crossed the generations via the words of her journal and influenced her darling grand-daughter, giving her courage and providing solace and sanctuary. She could not have known that years after penning the diary and many years after her death, her reflections would reach millions of readers. I applaud Diana Raab for recognizing the significance and beauty of her grandmother’s words and for taking the initiative to share this intimate journey with us. The author has definitely inherited her grandmother’s way with words and allowed her heart to flow freely within the pen strokes that created this literary masterpiece.

I recommend “Regina’s Closet: finding my grandmother’s secret journal” to all readers, everywhere…don’t miss this heart warming, inspiring and life-affirming book– this is one you will want to share with everyone! ( )