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In a collection reminiscent of Charles E. Bohlen's Witness to History: 1929-1969, Gefen has compiled nearly ten years of letters to the editor, chronicling cultural/political shifts during the Trump era in America. Beginning with Trump's first presidential campaign in 2016, the author's tone shifts from hope to disbelief. Fear, frustration, anger, dismay, desperation, and resignation follow before she confirms her oft-stated optimism with an ending pledge to continue speaking out.
The issues covered are far-flung and include candidates, both left and right-leaning. These include the following: the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections; the 2018 and 2022 midterm elections; school shootings and gun control; SCOTUS; the Me Too movement; the first and second impeachments of Donald J. Trump; the January 6th assault on the nation's capitol; the Mueller investigation and report; George Floyd and race relations in America; income inequality; voter fraud; LGBTQ rights; the Covid flu pandemic; U.S./China relations; the deaths of John Lewis and Queen Elizabeth; the U.S. exit from Afghanistan and its impact on Afghani women and children; the end of Roe v. Wade; the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the war in Gaza; Project 2025; Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race; Vice-President Kamala Harris's ascension and subsequent election loss; and parents who buy their kids into elite colleges and universities.
At times, the author is prescient, predicting the 2021 Capitol protest months before it happened and suggesting that Kamala Harris needed higher visibility in the administration long before she became the 2024 presidential candidate. Politically insightful, this compilation covers a challenging time in American history, but throughout, the author's hope for a better future never dulls to less than a glimmer.