A family history memoir, gathered from the family and written for the generations to come
Where a family memoir follows one life, a family history memoir follows the whole line — the stories the grandparents told, the decision to leave, and everyone who came after.
From the stories your family remembers to a memoir your grandchildren can read
We start from whatever the family already has — a surname, a village, a box of photographs, a story told at the holidays — and from a series of conversations with the relatives who remember. Where the story needs it, we fill the gaps from the records: a baptism, a marriage, a ship's passenger list.
Then we write it as narrative history, not a chart: the people, the places, and the reasons, in the order they happened.
Reserve a first conversationMemoir or family history?
Many families combine the two: one life at the heart of the memoir, framed by the generations that came before it.
One life, in one voice
Built from recorded conversations with the person whose life it is. The right choice while a parent or grandparent can still tell the story firsthand.
Many lives, across generations
Built from conversations with the living family, with archive research where the story needs it. The right choice when several generations, or several branches, want one memoir.
Voices, places, and a memoir to hold
The living family
A series of recorded conversations with the relatives who remember, so the memoir holds the stories no archive ever kept.
Archive research, as needed
Where a name or a date needs checking, we look it up in church and civil registers or emigration papers, read in their original languages.
The places
Maps, the villages and streets as they are today, and — if you wish — a journey to stand in them yourself.
About heritage journeysThe memoir
Narrative chapters, family trees, photographs, and documents, designed and printed as a hardcover family edition.
What the finished memoir looks likeWhat memory, and the records, can tell us
Memories fade, papers get lost, and some stories end sooner than a family hopes. So we listen first and promise second: after the first conversations we tell you plainly what the memoir can hold, before you commit to the full memoir.
Where memory and documents run out, we say so in the memoir — and let the history of the place tell what the family's own papers cannot.
Before you begin
How far back can you go?
It depends on what the family remembers and what survives. Most of our memoirs cover about three generations. Where the story needs more, Hungarian church registers often reach back into the 1700s. We'll tell you what to expect after the first conversations.
We only know a surname and a country. Is that enough?
For a first conversation, yes. Relatives often remember more than they expect, and family papers usually point to a county or a village. If the story needs it, the records can take it from there.
How much does a family history memoir cost?
Most commissions begin at $10,000. The final figure depends on the number of conversations, any archive research the story needs, and the number of printed copies, and we agree it in writing before any work begins.
Can every branch of the family have a copy?
Yes. We print as many copies as you need, and keep the files so more can be printed later.
Tell us the names you already know
A surname, a village, a date on the back of a photograph — that is enough for a first conversation.
Reserve a first conversation