Margaret McMullan

Antisemitism is not dead; denial is strong. World leaders still plot and plan, blaming others when and where they can. Persecution and genocide are unfortunately still at work. Where the Angels Lived is about remembering ancestors and their struggles and sacrifices. It’s about remembering what is decent and important in life, and holding it sacred.

Don Dickinson, former English teacher at Chambersburg High School

“Skillfully weaving together her family’s challenges…, McMullan reveals a fascinating tale of a Jewish family’s fall from the highest graces to the misery of the concentration camps. Her determination to fill out the missing information on Richárd’s Page of Testimony at Yad Vashem is finally fulfilled, but not until her life, and identity, is forever changed. Gripping.”

Leah Goldstein, Yad Vashem Library

This is more than a family memoir; this is a book about the importance of looking back, of remembering.

Rabbi Sandy Sasso , Indiana Humanities

The author discovers the history of self, a family and a nation that was lost and then arduously found. Her revelations about hidden Jewish lineage in Pécs, Hungary, are heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

James Merriner

Society of Midland Authors

You will emerge from reading this memoir with a greater understanding of the destructive power of hate.

Teach Peace Now

McMullan’s haunting, heartrending, and hopeful journey to remember and honor her family’s legacy…reminds us how connected we all are to our past.

Linda Kass

author of Tasa’s Song, owner of Gramercy Books

An amazing book club selection. McMullan’s writing is exquisite – detailed and luminous.

 

Lois Hanson

Paragraphs Bookstore, Ohio

An amazing voyage of discovery.

Chicago Jewish News

Riveting reading.

The Hungarian Spectrum

McMullan has done more than tell this story masterfully… the memoir’s inevitable look at the gradual nature of totalitarianism’s growth resonates today, as both the U.S. and Hungary experience right-wing resurgences.

Ellen Ann Fentress

The Clarion-Ledger

Into this terrifying moment of severe intolerance in America, arrives this meticulously researched, soul-driven account of the generational trauma caused by another country that turned on and gave up its own. Margaret McMullan did not ask for the assignment that sent her and her family to Hungary to mourn an unknown family member lost to the Holocaust, but her radical courage, determination and stamina in the face of that assignment is breathtaking, insisting we pay attention, to the crimes of the past and our actions in the present, because, of course, it can happen here.

Pam Houston

Deep Creek

Millions of individuals were killed during the Holocaust, and many of their stories were lost. But one man’s story was not.

Mind Joggle

Where the Angels Lived is a beautifully crafted memoir that readers of history will particularly enjoy. Anyone with a fascination for discovering forgotten chapters of their own lives will relate to Margaret McMullan’s quest for the story of her ancestors. The book also made for a thoughtful book club selection, stimulating interesting conversation about the writing as well as the featured characters. This is a wonderful book to put in the hands of readers.

Kelle Barfield

owner Lorelei Books

McMullan beautifully pieces together a family history and the history of a country and its ethnic groups to create a stirring and highly informative narrative, full of information, wonderful wisdom and anecdotes, both sorrowful and joyful.

Josip Novakovich

April Fool’s Day