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American Jewish Fiction : A Century Of Stories Edited by Gerald
Shapiro.
A Blessing On The Moon by Joseph Skibell.
Although the Nazis think they have murdered Chaim Skibelski in a small Polish town's mass grave, he escapes.
A Conspiracy Of Paper : A Novel by David Liss.
Follow detective BenjaminWeaver, former prizefighter, through 18th century London as he investigates the death of his father, a stock trader from whom he has long been estranged.
Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg.
Beautiful Wasps Having Sex by Dori Carter.
A disillusioned Jewish ex-screenwriter looking back over her experiences in Tinsel Town. Just when she's down in the dumps, she meets young Jonathan Prince. Whom she thinks is a devoted fan.
Bech At Bay : A Quasi-Novel by John Updike.
Aging Jewish writer Henry Bech continues to muddle through, even winning the Nobel Prize amidst a storm of protest. Readers do not necessarily have to be familiar with the two previous works Bech and Bech is Back to enjoy this one.
Black Cross by Greg Iles.
A physician from Georgia and a German Jew, in a risky maneuver, attempt to destroy a poison nerve gas laboratory in Hitler's Germany.
The Bridge Builder's Story : A Novel by Howard Fast.
Scott Waring and his wife go to Berlin for their honeymoon in 1939 and see the Gestapo in action, but when Scott helps to liberate Buchenwald at the end of the war, he undergoes prolonged trauma.
The Children of Abraham by Marek Halter
A fictionalized account based on the author's own genealogical research. Describes a family of cousins scattered throughout the Soviet Union and South America after World War II.
Davita's Harp by Chaim Potok.
After her father is killed, Ilana decides to attend yeshiva only to be deprived of them because she is a girl.
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.
Finishing his dissertation on old Russian folktales, Ivan returns to the Ukraine
of his youth to do research and search for the mysterious sleeping figure he
once stumbled upon as a child. Card masterfullly takes Ivan and his sleeping
princess from contemporary time to an ancient Slavic Village and back again.
The Family Orchard : A Novel by Nomi Eve.
The novel begins in 1837 as Esther and Yochanan marry settle in Jerusalem. It follows their family saga for almost 200 years, showing how the family history is deeply intertwined with the family orchard, Jerusalem, and the formation of Israel.
Flora's Suitcase : A Novel by Dalia Rabinovich.
In an engaging story spanning decades and flowing back and forth in time traces the lives of American Flora Grossenberg and her Russian émigré husband, David.
For The Relief Of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander
A short story collection that reveals the tension between the sacred and the profane for Orthodox Jews. Englander's memorable characters circumstances of their struggles make all nine stories a pleasure to read and contemplate
Friends For Life : A Novel by Meg Wolitzer.
The Story of three Manhattan women on the verge of 30 who have managed to remain close friends through their school years and into adulthood. All three are unattached as the novel begins, but soon form alliances that threaten their closeness.
From Bondage by Henry Roth.
Ira Stigman works toward manhood in Manhattan in the 1920s, during which time he has an affair with his college professor.
The Hope by Herman Wouk
Zev Barak, Don Kishote, and Nitzan, along with their families, participate in the establishment of the nation of Israel from 1948 through the Six-Day War in 1967.
The House Of Moses All-Stars : A Novel by Charley Rosen.
During the Depression, a Jewish basketball team leaves the Bronx to tour across America where the team members have a chance to see the country and learn about one another.
The Human Stain by Philip Roth.
Zuckerman seems destined to discover the truth about Coleman, a professor at a small Berkshire college who embodies all the ambition, paradox, anger, and futility of the American dream, but lives a secretive life.
I Married A Communist by Philip Roth.
Narrator Nathan Zuckerman learns his old friend, Ira has died, and is shocked to
learn that Ira was a Communist. Nathan then realizes that the friendship
negatively affected his own opportunities.
In Babylon by Marcel Moring (Trans. by Stacey Knecht).
Nathan Hollander and his niece Nina, set out to visit the family's deserted country house, getting caught in one of the Netherlands' worst snowstorms. They live off the mysteriously well-stocked larder while reminiscing about family. They're soon joined by two family ghosts.
The Inn At Lake Devine : A Novel by Elinor Lipman.
When Natalie Marx is 13, she arranges to visit a gentile vacation spot with a camp friend. Years later, the two meet again.
The innocents Within : a novel By Robert Daley.
A departure from the cop stories that have earned him much acclaim, Daley's novel was inspired by a true story of a protestant pastor who provides help to Jewish refugees and an American fighter pilot in a small French village during the war.
Inventing Memory : A Novel Of Mothers And Daughters by Erica Jong.
The history of four Jewish women, mothers and daughters, begins in Russia during a pogrom in the early 1900s when Sara flees but passes her heritage to her daughter Salome, her granddaughter Sally, and Sally's daughter Sara.
The Iron Tracks by Aharon Appelfeld ; Translated From The Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green.
Erwin Siegelbaum continues to ride European trains from place to place as he did during the Holocaust 50 years before, but since the war, he has been buying Jewish antiques from people who are unaware of their value to sell to collectors.
The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis.
When young widow and Jewish convert and her five-year-old daughter move into the
Memphis, Tennessee, neighborhood where her husband grew up, their arrival sends
shock waves through the small and tightly knit Orthodox community.
The Last Jew by Noah Gordon.
The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon by Richard Zimler.
In 1506 as the Inquisition rages, a young Jewish manuscript illuminator
pretending to be Christian searches for the murderer of his uncle.
The Loves Of Judith by Meir Shalev (Trans. From The Hebrew by B. Harshav.)
Zayde as he tells the story of his mother, Judith, who was loved by three Israeli Men but would never reveal which one fathered her son. The three men all love Judith, and each treats Zayde like a son.
Kaaterskill Falls : A Novel by Allegra Goodman.
A small Orthodox Jewish sect spends summers in a Dutch community, and in 1976, the townspeople begin to resent the
intrusion, and female members of the group chafe under its laws and restrictions.
Kapo by Aleksandar Tisma (Trans.From The Serbo-Croatian by R.
Williams).
In Auschwitz, Laiman becomes a kapo, a prisoner who guards other inmates in
return for privileges, but he asks for sex in exchange for food, and years
afterward, when he sees one of the women he abused, the horror returns.
Levitation, Five Fictions by Cynthia Ozick.
A short story collection.
Louisa by Simone Zelitch.
In 1949, Nora Gratz, a strong-willed survivor of the Holocaust and her German daughter-in-law Louisa walk off the boat in Hafia and enter an absorption camp for new immigrants, wondering what life will bring in a new nation.
The Man In The Box by Thomas Moran.
Dr. Robert Weiss performs an emergency appendectomy on the infant Niki while a paying guest in the Lukasser home, and when Niki is a teenager, Weiss asks the family to hide him from the Nazis in their rural Austrian mountain home.
Mazel by Rebecca Goldstein.
Spans almost eighty years of Sasha’s life, from her beginning as a rabbi’s daughter in a rural polish
shtetl, through her stint as a star in Warsaw, and finally to grandmotherhood.
Mercy of a Rude Stream Series by Henry Roth.
1. Mercy of a Rude Stream. 2. A Diving Rock on the Hudson. 3. From Bondage.
4. Requiem for Harlem.
In this series, the elderly protagonist, Ira Sigman, talks to his computer as he writes about his life, chronicling events from his youth in the tenements of New York City in the first decades of the 20th century to his later life in the world of intellectuals.
Meshugah by Isaac Bashevis Singer ; Translated by The Author And Nili
Wachtel.
Features a triangle of Jewish lovers who have survived the concentration camps and must sort out their loyalties.
Moonlight On The Avenue Of Faith by Gina B. Nahai.
Born to poor parents in the Jewish ghetto outside Tehran, Roxanna is labeled the "bad luck child" by her grandmother and is saddled with a destiny she struggles to escape for the rest of her life. Estranged from family, her beauty and innocence are almost enough to rescue her from fate. Told from the point of view of Roxanna's daughter.
My Darling Elia by Eugenie Melnyk.
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok.
Young Asher Lev shows outstanding artistic promise, but must reconcile his desire for fullfillment with his strict Jewish parents and a Hasidic culture that doesn’t look favorably on artists. If you like this one, try the sequel: The Gift of Asher Lev
Natalya, God's messenger by Magda Bogin.
Knowing that she will lose her job as a riveter after World War II, Rita buys a palmistry business in New York City, and afterwards, she finds that she is clairvoyant and can foretell events in the future.
Paradise, New York : A Novel by Eileenpollack.
The coming-of-age of assertive 19-year-old Lucy Appelbaum, who drops out of college to run her parents' decaying Borscht Belt hotel in the Catskills and falls in love with the hotel's proud African American handyman.
The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick.
Ruth Puttermesser , an attorney reasonably content with her orderly life, is ill-prepared for being demoted at work and dumped by her lover. She goes into a trance and awakens to discover that she has created a golem, just like the great rabbi Judah Loew of Prague.
The River Midnight by Lilian Nattel.
As the tiny town of Blaszka in Russian-occupied Poland readies for the Sabbath, readers learn about the townspeople:
Faygela, whose daughter was imprisoned for holding revolutionary pamphlets but was rescued at last by the whole village; the midwife
Misha, holder of secrets and trust; he rabbi whose fear of fire has a terrible source; Hayim the water-carrier who can sketch like an angel; and the Traveler who appears, with a silk rose on his collar, when he is needed.
The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham.
Rachel, the oldest of seven kids in an Orthodox family, loves reading romance books, breaking the rules of her Hasidic parents, finding adventure, and exerting her independence, leaving her feeling uncomfortable with her impending, conventional, arranged marriage.
Reckless Endangerment by Robert K. Tanenbaum.
When the Shilkes, owners of a Manhattan deli, are attacked, the NYPD spots an unknown Arabic group's initials on a mirror. Complicating the investigation are the Guardians of Israel who insists Jews will defend themselves.
Red, White, And Blue : A Novel by Susan Isaacs.
Charlie, an FBI agent who grew up on a Wyoming ranch, and Lauren, a reporter for Jewish News, both find themselves in a small town outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, trying to find out more about a white supremacist group.
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally.
Oskar Schindler, a German, comes to Krakow, Poland, and helps the Jews working in his prison-camp complex.
Servant Of The Bones by Anne Rice.
When Azriel, a young Jewish man in Babylonia, must take the
form of the god Marduk, he becomes a spirit instead, traveling through time when summoned by a master.
Shadow Song by Terry Kay.
When middle-aged Bobo Murphy, revisits the Catskill Mountains to bury an elderly friend, he is haunted by memories of the magical summer he spent working as a waiter at the posh Pine Hill Inn, befriending a retired furrier, and romancing Amy
Lourie, the pampered only child of protective Jewish parents. Amy's reappearance force him to reevaluate his decisions.
Shadows On The Hudson by Isaac Bashevis Singer Translated by Joseph Sherman.
Boris Makaver, a wealthy and religious Jew in New York City faces a scandal after World War II when his daughter leaves her second husband.
Snow In August : A Novel by Pete Hamill.
Michael Devlin, an 11-year-old Irish American, meets Rabbi Hirsch, recently arrived from Europe, and in return for teaching the rabbi about baseball and English, the rabbi teaches Michael Yiddish and tells him about Prague, until an Irish gang becomes violent in its anti-Semitism.
Sotah by Naomi Ragen.
Young Dina Reich is a member of Jerusalem's ultraorthodox community, where tradition and observance take precedence over need and desire. Unlike her sister, Dina barely strained at restrictions until a family. When Dina's transgression is discovered by the community, forcing her to leave her home and decide what sort of life she will make for herself.
The Sacrifice Of Tamar by Naomi Ragen.
While growing up in Brooklyn, Tamar and her two closest friends must deal with
petty jealousies, gossip, and the rigid demands of an ancient orthodoxy. Adolescence introduces choices that profoundly affect their adult lives, and as women, each will pursue a considerably different path from that of the others. Tamar's outwardly perfect life must finally be reconciled with her long-kept about rape.
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick.
Includes two stories: "The Shawl" a brief story of the murder of a baby at the hands of a concentration camp guard and "Rosa," the story of the baby's mother living a bitter life in Miami and imagining the wondrous things her baby might have done.
The Wrong Kind Of Money by Stephen Birmingham.
Tells the saga of the Liebling family who sold liquor during prohibition, built a corporation, and became entangled in a murder trial.
Village Of A Million Spirits : A Novel Of The Treblinka Uprising by Ian Macmillan.
Set in the Treblinka concentration camp during the months leading up to the desperate uprising in 1943, this
docu-novel tells its story through the shifting viewpoints of prisoners, guards, and local people.
Zion Legacy Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene. Book 1: Jerusalem vigil and Book 2: Thunder from Jerusalem
The first book chronicles the desperate first five days of Israel, deftly interweaving the political context of the new Jewish homeland in the aftermath of the Holocaust and over the dead bodies of Muslims from Egypt to Syria. The sequel is a fast-paced account of streetfighting in Jerusalem between the disciplined Arab Legion and poorly armed Jewish irregulars, led by the shrewd Moshe
Sachar.
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