Product details
- ISBN 9780008729301
- Weight: 460g
- Dimensions: 141 x 222mm
- Publication Date: 29 Jan 2026
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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'This is a unique juxtaposition of the shatteringly honest diaries of two Jewish girls fighting to survive — Grandma Rosi in the Holocaust and two generations later Jess in today's grubby showbiz world. It appalled, uplifted and delighted me. I wish I’d written it.' MIRIAM MARGOLYES
'Deeply moving… fascinating' The Mail on Sunday
'I loved every word of it. Funny, fascinating, infuriating and so deeply personal. It's quite the achievement to create something so raw, so funny, and so clever.' ADAM HILLS
When Grandma Rosi was 23, she was expelled from Nazi Germany and interned as a refugee in Zbąszyń, Poland. She used her diary to document every detail of her experiences, from being deported by the Gestapo to stolen conversations with her first love.
When Jess was 23, she was living in London, struggling with a fledgling acting career, a failed love life and rock-bottom self-esteem. She used her diary to rant about her mum and track her daily calories. Well, it was the noughties…
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Rapidly approaching her 40th birthday – and, honestly, wanting an EU passport to beat the airport queues – comedian and impressionist Jess Robinson finally digs into the archives of her German Jewish ancestry. With each freshly translated page of her grandmother’s wartime diaries, Jess sets out to discover who Grandma Rosi really was – and maybe learn a thing or two about herself. After all, it’s easy to forget who you really are when you spend every day pretending to be other people…
Bravely reopening her own diaries (which had been very securely locked away for nearly two decades), Jess follows the two young women as they navigate life at 23, finding a shared sense of identity despite their entirely different circumstances.
Exploring everything from lessons in resilience to the traits we inherit from our matriarchs – and not forgetting trying to make new friends at the German embassy – Life Is Rosi is a warm, witty and wise book that gets to the heart of who we are, wherever we are.
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Jess Robinson is an award-winning impressionist, comedian, actor, singer and voice-over artist. Since dazzling audiences on Britain’s Got Talent in 2017, she has become a regular on shows like Dead Ringers, Spitting Image and Horrible Histories, and continues to perform her celebrated live shows across the UK. Her hit podcast ‘Stars in Your Ears’ won Best Entertainment Podcast at the 2021 British Comedy Awards. Find out more at www.jessrobinson.co.uk
