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DEBRA REED BLANK
American Jewish Fiction Books
1983-1984
A
p p e l f e l d
, A
h a r o n
.
The retreat.
Trans, by Dalya Bilu. New York: E. P.
Dutton, 1984. 164 p.
Shortly before WW2 in the mountains of Austria, a man opens a
resort for Jewish senior citizens, with a program of ridding them of
their “Jewish” traits. In his inimitable stark style, Appelfeld has writ
ten a parable which preaches against this sort o f doomed enterprise.
A
s c h
, S
h o l e m
.
Three cities.
New York: Carroll and Graf, 1983. 899 p.
Re-release of an epic work, sensual, emotional and political. De
picted are the wealthy Jews of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, the
poor Jews of Warsaw, and Moscow during the October Revolution.
B
e r m a n t
, C
h a im
.
The house of women.
New York: St. Martin’s, 1983. 304
P-
A modern Austen-like tale of an English Jewish family. Ducks
Courlander (the narrator-heroine) and her two sisters are the focus
o f this novel which offers social insight as well as family politics.
B
ir m in g h a m
, S
t e p h e n
.
The Auerbach will.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1983.
416 p.
The story of the Auerbachs’ rise to wealth and power is loosely
based on the real life of a prominent philanthropist and business
leader. Jacob ’s wife Essie is the main character in this tale of the
struggles that go on behind a facade of outward wealth and privi
lege. The era of the great mail-order catalog houses is brought to
life in an inventive and entertaining manner.
B
r o d e r
, B
i l l
and
G
lo r ia
K
u r ia n
B
r o d e r
.
Remember this time.
New
York: Newmarket Press, 1983. 380 p.
A saga of a Jewish family in Russia in the years just before their
immigration. The reader goes through WW1 and the Russian Revo
lution with four dauntless, beautiful sisters, their wise mother and
their crafty, illiterate father. The conflicting ideas and expectations
of those dramatic years are presented through these characters in a
historically well-grounded fashion.
B
u s c h
, F
r e d e r ic k
.
Invisible mending.
Boston: David R. Godine, 1984.
277 p.
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