My Name Is Not Rifka

A revelation from the past leads a woman and her estranged mother-in-law on a transformative journey toward discovery and reconciliation—forging a kinship neither could have imagined.

“The writing is just beautiful. Literary, paradoxical, poetic, forensic, and deeply affecting. Introducing herself as the other pillar of the biography makes this compellingly readable: full of redemptive clues and revelations. All honour to Vivien for taking on this monumental project.”
—Michael Kretzmer, The Sunday Times journalist and BBC multi-award-winning filmmaker

For fifty years, Rifka secretly carried the weight of survivor’s guilt, tormented by a question she could never put to rest: Why had she been abandoned in the hour of her greatest need? Decades later, she finally agrees to share her story with the daughter-in-law she once spurned. In a race against time, as Alzheimer’s steals Rifka’s memory, she makes a shattering disclosure.

Told in a dual-timeline format, My Name Is Not Rifka follows one woman’s quest to uncover her estranged mother-in-law’s hidden past, ultimately leading to forgiveness, healing, and a deep affection that reshapes their relationship.