Lost in Translation is Eva Hoffman's memoir. She brings her audience along for three major life transitions, marked by emigrating, which have defined her life in later years, as she's writing the memoir. Born in post-war Poland, Hoffman remembers the strong communal ties which defined her childhood. The people stuck together, but times were tough. As a child, her parents move the family to Canada where Hoffman loses herself. She never recovers from the culture shock nor feels whole again, until she moves, as an adult, to Houston, Texas. Through an intentional struggle for self-acceptance and recovery she traces the patterns of thought which led her to feel lost in Canada and ultimately "discovers herself."
As a Harvard graduate, Hoffman is deeply entrenched in the validation of academia. Her adult career is, however, largely personal, based off of her emigration experience. That change was so influential throughout her entire life that it continues to define her today, but, as Hoffman learns in therapy, she is the summation of her experiences. This means that Canada and Texas are just as much a part of her story as Poland was and that to adjust to these new environments and lifestyles is not a betrayal of her past but an honoring of herself and who she is today. Though an important recognition, this is not by any means an easy one to make.
