Recent
Additons to our Collection of
Fiction
Fiction
All
He Ever Wanted, by Anita Shreve
A man escaping from a hotel fire sees a woman standing beneath a tree. He approaches her and sets in motion a series of events that will change his life forever. Years later he reflects back on his obsession with this unknown and ultimately unknowable woman--his courtship of her, his marriage to her, and the unforgivable act that ripped their family apart. Spanning three decades from 1899 to 1933, this is a tale of marriage, betrayal, anti semitism and the search for redemption. It has the unmatched attention to details of character, place, and emotion that have made Anita Shreve one of America's best-loved and bestselling novelists.
A man escaping from a hotel fire sees a woman standing beneath a tree. He approaches her and sets in motion a series of events that will change his life forever. Years later he reflects back on his obsession with this unknown and ultimately unknowable woman--his courtship of her, his marriage to her, and the unforgivable act that ripped their family apart. Spanning three decades from 1899 to 1933, this is a tale of marriage, betrayal, anti semitism and the search for redemption. It has the unmatched attention to details of character, place, and emotion that have made Anita Shreve one of America's best-loved and bestselling novelists.
The Book of Splendor, by Frances Sherwood
A historical novel about the most unlikely of lovers, interwoven with the mysticism of the Jewish occult. Set in seventeenth-century Prague, The Book of Splendor is an adventure-filled romance stocked with court intrigue and political tension, including the machinations of the rival Ottoman Empire, the religious controversies of Protestantism, and the constant threat of violence to the Jewish community.
A historical novel about the most unlikely of lovers, interwoven with the mysticism of the Jewish occult. Set in seventeenth-century Prague, The Book of Splendor is an adventure-filled romance stocked with court intrigue and political tension, including the machinations of the rival Ottoman Empire, the religious controversies of Protestantism, and the constant threat of violence to the Jewish community.
Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves.
Bliss,
by Ronit Matalon
Set in Tel Aviv and Paris, a powerful story of love, friendship, regret, and war, as current as today's headlines Ronit Matalon's fiction has been praised as "haunting," "inventive," "refreshingly daring." Now in a graceful, illuminating second novel, she tells a provocative story of two loves, two partings, two worlds, two women: Ofra and Sarah. Against a backdrop of national conflict, Bliss confronts the terrible dilemma of choosing between one's desires and one's beliefs, between grand ideological commitment and the more mundane claims of family. With vivid, penetrating prose, Matalon has delivered a large and resonant work that is as artful as it is affecting.
Set in Tel Aviv and Paris, a powerful story of love, friendship, regret, and war, as current as today's headlines Ronit Matalon's fiction has been praised as "haunting," "inventive," "refreshingly daring." Now in a graceful, illuminating second novel, she tells a provocative story of two loves, two partings, two worlds, two women: Ofra and Sarah. Against a backdrop of national conflict, Bliss confronts the terrible dilemma of choosing between one's desires and one's beliefs, between grand ideological commitment and the more mundane claims of family. With vivid, penetrating prose, Matalon has delivered a large and resonant work that is as artful as it is affecting.
Blues
in the Night, by Rochelle Krich
The award winning Krich introduces a new and captivating heroine in Molly Blume. Molly is a modern Orthodox Jew, crime writer, and freelance reporter for the local crime sheet throwaway you find the supermarket checkout. She's tough, wise, and sassy, and now intrigued by the hit and run blurb she's just written up. What was a 20-something woman with no ID and dressed only in her nightgown doing near Lookout Mountain at two in the morning? Who was she running from, and why was she left on the road to die? Like an itch that just has to be scratched, Molly is determined to find out.
The award winning Krich introduces a new and captivating heroine in Molly Blume. Molly is a modern Orthodox Jew, crime writer, and freelance reporter for the local crime sheet throwaway you find the supermarket checkout. She's tough, wise, and sassy, and now intrigued by the hit and run blurb she's just written up. What was a 20-something woman with no ID and dressed only in her nightgown doing near Lookout Mountain at two in the morning? Who was she running from, and why was she left on the road to die? Like an itch that just has to be scratched, Molly is determined to find out.
A
Changed Man, by Francine Prose
A repellant skinhead, so steeped in his hateful prejudices as to almost embody them, enters the office of a human rights foundation, World Brotherhood Watch. Meyer Maslow, an Auschwitz survivor and head of the organization has his doubts. But, he also has his beliefs, one of which is that even the scummiest of human detritus is some mother's son. In addition, it's not lost on Meyer that if this man could really change, he'd be a first-rate poster boy for the brotherhood of man. The clash of cultures is fodder for much of Prose's incomparable satire. Both funny and thought provoking this is one more literary triumph by the author of Blue Angel.
A repellant skinhead, so steeped in his hateful prejudices as to almost embody them, enters the office of a human rights foundation, World Brotherhood Watch. Meyer Maslow, an Auschwitz survivor and head of the organization has his doubts. But, he also has his beliefs, one of which is that even the scummiest of human detritus is some mother's son. In addition, it's not lost on Meyer that if this man could really change, he'd be a first-rate poster boy for the brotherhood of man. The clash of cultures is fodder for much of Prose's incomparable satire. Both funny and thought provoking this is one more literary triumph by the author of Blue Angel.
Chicken
Dreaming Corn, by Roy Hoffman
In 1916, on the immigrant blocks of the Southern port city of Mobile, Alabama, a Romanian Jewish shopkeeper, Morris Kleinman, is sweeping his walk in preparation for the Confederate veterans parade about to pass by. "Daddy?" his son asks, "are we Rebels?" "Today?" muses Morris. "Yes, we are Rebels." Thus opens a novel set, like many, in a languid Southern town. But, in a rarity for Southern novels, this one centers on a character who mixes Yiddish with his Southern and has for his neighbors small merchants from Poland, Lebanon, and Greece.
In 1916, on the immigrant blocks of the Southern port city of Mobile, Alabama, a Romanian Jewish shopkeeper, Morris Kleinman, is sweeping his walk in preparation for the Confederate veterans parade about to pass by. "Daddy?" his son asks, "are we Rebels?" "Today?" muses Morris. "Yes, we are Rebels." Thus opens a novel set, like many, in a languid Southern town. But, in a rarity for Southern novels, this one centers on a character who mixes Yiddish with his Southern and has for his neighbors small merchants from Poland, Lebanon, and Greece.
The
Coffee Trader, By David Liss
Historical fiction that follows the ins and outs of commerce in the Jewish community of seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Miguel Lienzo, driven out of Portugal by the Inquisition, has already made and lost a fortune. When one of Miguel’s clients, ntroduces him to the pleasures of coffee, he senses an opportunity—and soon conceives a scheme to import the exotic new beverage, artificially manipulate its value, and realize a handsome profit. Treacherous moneylenders and fellow traders, including an envious brother, must be outwitted and creditors must be sidestepped, all in a swirl of secret meetings and falsely labeled cargoes.
Historical fiction that follows the ins and outs of commerce in the Jewish community of seventeenth-century Amsterdam. Miguel Lienzo, driven out of Portugal by the Inquisition, has already made and lost a fortune. When one of Miguel’s clients, ntroduces him to the pleasures of coffee, he senses an opportunity—and soon conceives a scheme to import the exotic new beverage, artificially manipulate its value, and realize a handsome profit. Treacherous moneylenders and fellow traders, including an envious brother, must be outwitted and creditors must be sidestepped, all in a swirl of secret meetings and falsely labeled cargoes.
The
Covenant by Naomi Ragen
Ragen, an American writer who's lived in Israel for more than 30 years, blends tragedies of the past with headline news of today in her gripping, emotionally charged sixth novel. Living in Jerusalem, Elise Margulies fears for the lives of her husband and daughter every day. Then comes the day when her worst fears come true. Over five terror and hope-filled days during which ordinary people join the front lines against terrorism, the ties that bind two generations form a powerful alliance against contemporary evil.
Ragen, an American writer who's lived in Israel for more than 30 years, blends tragedies of the past with headline news of today in her gripping, emotionally charged sixth novel. Living in Jerusalem, Elise Margulies fears for the lives of her husband and daughter every day. Then comes the day when her worst fears come true. Over five terror and hope-filled days during which ordinary people join the front lines against terrorism, the ties that bind two generations form a powerful alliance against contemporary evil.
The
Confessor, by Daniel Silva
Gabriel
Allon, the protagonist in this series about a Mossad spy who doubles
as an art restorer, returns in a fascinating tale of Vatican complicity
in the Holocaust. The Confessor is a solidly plotted, well-crafted story
that will appeal to fans of Allen Furst, John le Carré, and other
standouts in the international espionage genre.
Dinner
with Anna Karenina,
A Novel by Gloria Goldreich
Six women discover their lives transformed by their shared passion for books in this delightful tribute to friendship. The women participate in an informal Manhattan book club that exposes "their dreams, their deepest fears, their brightest hopes" while they discuss great literature and enjoy wonderful meals. The group's tranquility shatters when the most glamorous of the six announces that she's divorcing her husband, a highly successful documentary filmmaker. For a whole year, as the other five endlessly speculate about the reasons for the divorce and face their own personal problems, the women probe the riches of authors like Tolstoy, Flaubert, Plath and Nabokov. In the end, their emotional support of each other grows as they learn to understand and forgive each other's weaknesses.
This book was graciously presented by the South Shore Long Island Women's League.
Six women discover their lives transformed by their shared passion for books in this delightful tribute to friendship. The women participate in an informal Manhattan book club that exposes "their dreams, their deepest fears, their brightest hopes" while they discuss great literature and enjoy wonderful meals. The group's tranquility shatters when the most glamorous of the six announces that she's divorcing her husband, a highly successful documentary filmmaker. For a whole year, as the other five endlessly speculate about the reasons for the divorce and face their own personal problems, the women probe the riches of authors like Tolstoy, Flaubert, Plath and Nabokov. In the end, their emotional support of each other grows as they learn to understand and forgive each other's weaknesses.
This book was graciously presented by the South Shore Long Island Women's League.
The
English Assassin, by Daniel Silva
Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon is back, looking for another best seller (after The Marching Season). In a case that draws on Switzerland's links to the Nazis, art restorer Allon is sent to salvage a Raphael and finds the owner dead.
Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon is back, looking for another best seller (after The Marching Season). In a case that draws on Switzerland's links to the Nazis, art restorer Allon is sent to salvage a Raphael and finds the owner dead.
Everything
is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
Exuberant and wise, hysterically funny and deeply moving, Everything Is Illuminated is an astonishing debut novel. In the summer after his junior year of college, a writer journeys to the farmlands of eastern Europe. Armed with only a yellowing photograph, he sets out to find the woman who might or might not be a link to the grandfather he never knew—the woman who, he has been told, saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
Exuberant and wise, hysterically funny and deeply moving, Everything Is Illuminated is an astonishing debut novel. In the summer after his junior year of college, a writer journeys to the farmlands of eastern Europe. Armed with only a yellowing photograph, he sets out to find the woman who might or might not be a link to the grandfather he never knew—the woman who, he has been told, saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
The
Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights by Faye Kellerman
Bestseller Kellerman's
fans will welcome this eclectic volume, whose 17 selections
include two new tales about her series husband-and-wife team, LAPD
Lt. Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus; two stories with family themes,
one coauthored with Kellerman's two daughters ("The
Luck of the Draw"); and a pair of autobiographical essays, one a poignant
tribute to her late father ("The Summer of My Womanhood"). Kellerman's
short stories may lack the intricate plotting of her novels (Stone
Kiss, etc.), but a typical effort like the title story, in which Decker
notices some things out of place when a friend dies of an apparent heart
attack, is never less than entertaining.
The
Genizah at the House of Shepher, by Tamar Yellin
This is a sweeping novel that follows the return of an English biblical scholar to her grandparents' home in Jerusalem. Immersed in a simmering family feud concerning the so-called "Shepher Codex", she discovers the history of her family, from the great-grandfather who traveled to Babylon in search of the ten lost tribes, to her grandfather's Zionist ideals that caused conflict with his religion, to the tragic love affair of her parents and her own sad past. As much a parable of the transformations in Jerusalem over a hundred and thirty years as it is the story of one woman's struggle for identity and search for answers.
This is a sweeping novel that follows the return of an English biblical scholar to her grandparents' home in Jerusalem. Immersed in a simmering family feud concerning the so-called "Shepher Codex", she discovers the history of her family, from the great-grandfather who traveled to Babylon in search of the ten lost tribes, to her grandfather's Zionist ideals that caused conflict with his religion, to the tragic love affair of her parents and her own sad past. As much a parable of the transformations in Jerusalem over a hundred and thirty years as it is the story of one woman's struggle for identity and search for answers.
Gilmore's story follows the lives of three immigrants from the 1920s to the '60s in New York. These three people live the story of America at that time: the impact of Kristallnacht and the camps on the Jewish population, World War II, depression and new prosperity, airplane travel, and television. It's a time of enormous change and growth, great sadness, and undreamed of wealth. Gilmore has captured magnificently the texture of the Jewish immigrant experience: the terrible disappoinments, delusions and disillusions, the ambition, hard work, family life, success and failure, compromises, sacrifice, and the limitless hope offered in this Goldene medina, this golden country. She has written with wit, great care, meticulous research, understanding, and love.
In
The Image, by Dara Horn
Horn, a journalist and a scholar, debuts with a story that is partly about the Jewish immigrant experience and partly about people seeking love, commitment, and fulfillment, at times within a religious and cultural context. Horn effectively draws the reader into the losses and desperation felt by the main characters, American Jewish immigrants, portraying them as strong and hopeful people who believe that here is better than there. With Leora in particular, the author has created a woman of depth and complexity whose emotions and reactions often resonate with accuracy.
Horn, a journalist and a scholar, debuts with a story that is partly about the Jewish immigrant experience and partly about people seeking love, commitment, and fulfillment, at times within a religious and cultural context. Horn effectively draws the reader into the losses and desperation felt by the main characters, American Jewish immigrants, portraying them as strong and hopeful people who believe that here is better than there. With Leora in particular, the author has created a woman of depth and complexity whose emotions and reactions often resonate with accuracy.
The
Illuminated Soul, by Aryeh Stollman
A thoughtful, resonant examination of Jewish life in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Now a famous neuroanatomist, Dr. Joseph Ivri reflects on his life and career. Raised in a devout Jewish household in placid, post-WWII Ontario, Joseph is obsessively studious, somber and a bit of a religious prodigy.
A thoughtful, resonant examination of Jewish life in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Now a famous neuroanatomist, Dr. Joseph Ivri reflects on his life and career. Raised in a devout Jewish household in placid, post-WWII Ontario, Joseph is obsessively studious, somber and a bit of a religious prodigy.
Jane
Austen in Boca: A Novel by Paula Cohen
The Bennett daughters are recast as elderly Jewish widows in this amusing, kvetchy take on Pride and Prejudice. May Newman, a sweet, gentle woman in her 70s, is happily settled at the Boca Festa retirement community in Boca Raton, Fla., where she enjoys the companionship of her best friends, Lila Katz, a pragmatic redhead in search of a well-to-do husband, and Flo Kliman, a sharp-tongued retired librarian. The humor may be of the Borscht Belt variety ("she would find May Newman a husband or plotz"), but it will be thoroughly appreciated by the snowbird set.
The Bennett daughters are recast as elderly Jewish widows in this amusing, kvetchy take on Pride and Prejudice. May Newman, a sweet, gentle woman in her 70s, is happily settled at the Boca Festa retirement community in Boca Raton, Fla., where she enjoys the companionship of her best friends, Lila Katz, a pragmatic redhead in search of a well-to-do husband, and Flo Kliman, a sharp-tongued retired librarian. The humor may be of the Borscht Belt variety ("she would find May Newman a husband or plotz"), but it will be thoroughly appreciated by the snowbird set.
The
Outside World by Tova Mirvis
A hilarious new novel about two Orthodox Jewish families brought together by the marriage of their children. Tzippy Goldman's mother has been planning her wedding since before she was born. But Tzippy, approaching spinsterhood at the age of twenty-two has been on one too many blind dates in the lobby of the Brooklyn Marriott. She is hungry for experience and longs to escape the suffocating expectations of religious stricture and romantic obligation. Bryan Miller's family lives in a modern orthodox community in NJ. To his parents' bewilderment and horror, he trades in his beloved Yankees cap for the black fedora of the ultra-Orthodox. This is the story of the courtship of Bryan and Tzippy and their struggle to be religious in a modern world.
A hilarious new novel about two Orthodox Jewish families brought together by the marriage of their children. Tzippy Goldman's mother has been planning her wedding since before she was born. But Tzippy, approaching spinsterhood at the age of twenty-two has been on one too many blind dates in the lobby of the Brooklyn Marriott. She is hungry for experience and longs to escape the suffocating expectations of religious stricture and romantic obligation. Bryan Miller's family lives in a modern orthodox community in NJ. To his parents' bewilderment and horror, he trades in his beloved Yankees cap for the black fedora of the ultra-Orthodox. This is the story of the courtship of Bryan and Tzippy and their struggle to be religious in a modern world.
A
Palistine Affair, by Jonathan Wilson
This tightly knit novel of political intrigue and romance by Wilson (Schoom) is set in 1924 in Palestine under the British mandate. English Jewish painter Mark Bloomberg has left London for Jerusalem, hired by a Zionist organization to produce paintings of "Life Under Reconstruction Conditions. Progress. Enterprise. Development." He's there with his American wife, Joyce, a Protestant socialite who is more enthusiastic about Zionism than he is. Wilson is exceptionally attuned to the range of opinion and complex sense of identity of the Jews living in Palestine, as well as the subtle but potentially explosive tension that characterizes everyday interactions under colonial occupation.
This tightly knit novel of political intrigue and romance by Wilson (Schoom) is set in 1924 in Palestine under the British mandate. English Jewish painter Mark Bloomberg has left London for Jerusalem, hired by a Zionist organization to produce paintings of "Life Under Reconstruction Conditions. Progress. Enterprise. Development." He's there with his American wife, Joyce, a Protestant socialite who is more enthusiastic about Zionism than he is. Wilson is exceptionally attuned to the range of opinion and complex sense of identity of the Jews living in Palestine, as well as the subtle but potentially explosive tension that characterizes everyday interactions under colonial occupation.
The
Pieces from Berlin by Michael Pye
Based on the case of a real woman, Pye's narrative examines the shady life of fictional Lucia Muller-Ross, who spirited vanloads of valuable antiques entrusted to her by their Jewish owners out of Berlin and into Switzerland at the end of WWII. Sixty years later, Lucia is the elderly, proud and respected owner of an antiques shop in Zurich, when Sarah Freeman, a Holocaust survivor, spies in the store's window a table she once owned. Sarah's anguished need for emotional restitution sparks a tragic upheaval in Lucia's family.
Based on the case of a real woman, Pye's narrative examines the shady life of fictional Lucia Muller-Ross, who spirited vanloads of valuable antiques entrusted to her by their Jewish owners out of Berlin and into Switzerland at the end of WWII. Sixty years later, Lucia is the elderly, proud and respected owner of an antiques shop in Zurich, when Sarah Freeman, a Holocaust survivor, spies in the store's window a table she once owned. Sarah's anguished need for emotional restitution sparks a tragic upheaval in Lucia's family.
The
Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The book explores a wholly imagined thesis and sees it through to the end: What if Charles A. Lindbergh defeats FDR for the Presidency in 1940. Incorporating Lindbergh's actual radio address in which he accused the British and the Jews of trying to force America into a foreign war, Roth builds an eerily logical narrative that shows how isolationists in and out of government, emboldened by Lindbergh's blatant anti-Semitism enact new laws and create an atmosphere of religious hatred that culminates in nationwide pogroms. Historical figures inhabit this chillingly plausible fiction, which is as suspenseful as the best thrillers and illustrates how easily people can be persuaded by self-interest to abandon morality.
The book explores a wholly imagined thesis and sees it through to the end: What if Charles A. Lindbergh defeats FDR for the Presidency in 1940. Incorporating Lindbergh's actual radio address in which he accused the British and the Jews of trying to force America into a foreign war, Roth builds an eerily logical narrative that shows how isolationists in and out of government, emboldened by Lindbergh's blatant anti-Semitism enact new laws and create an atmosphere of religious hatred that culminates in nationwide pogroms. Historical figures inhabit this chillingly plausible fiction, which is as suspenseful as the best thrillers and illustrates how easily people can be persuaded by self-interest to abandon morality.
Rashi, one of the greatest Jewish scholars who ever lived, had no sons, only three daughters. Much has been written about Rashi and his grandsons, the Tosafot, but almost nothing of his daughters. Legend has it that they were learned in a time when women were forbidden to study the sacred texts. Rashis Daughters tells the story of these forgotten women.
The
Russian Debutante's Handbook, by Gary Shteyngart
Vladimir Girshkin, a likeable Jewish Russian immigrant, searches for love, a decent job, and a credible self-identity in Gary Shteyngart's debut novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook. With a doctor-father of questionable ethics and a manic, banker mother, Vladimir avoids his suburban parents and their desire that he pursue the almighty dollar as proof of success.
Vladimir Girshkin, a likeable Jewish Russian immigrant, searches for love, a decent job, and a credible self-identity in Gary Shteyngart's debut novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook. With a doctor-father of questionable ethics and a manic, banker mother, Vladimir avoids his suburban parents and their desire that he pursue the almighty dollar as proof of success.
Second
Hand Smoke, by Thane Rosenbaum
Second Hand Smoke is superb, if deeply disturbing, writing. True, it ends with hints of reconciliation, even the possibility that Duncan's heart might at last unblock. But what mostly remains, long after the final page has been turned, is a portrait of a man at war with ghosts of the Holocaust and himself. - The Wall Street Journal
Second Hand Smoke is superb, if deeply disturbing, writing. True, it ends with hints of reconciliation, even the possibility that Duncan's heart might at last unblock. But what mostly remains, long after the final page has been turned, is a portrait of a man at war with ghosts of the Holocaust and himself. - The Wall Street Journal
Seven
Blessings , by Ruchama King
Two Orthodox Jewish matchmakers strive busily to marry off their neighbors in this bustling debut novel set in modern-day Jerusalem. King tracks the dating fates of Beth, Akiva and Binyamin, but pays equal attention to their spiritual searching. Her attention to minor variations in levels of orthodoxy makes the book a sociological study of sorts but her richly detailed descriptions of Jerusalem (the reader can almost smell the falafel frying) and her sympathetic characters make this a fully realized novel.
Two Orthodox Jewish matchmakers strive busily to marry off their neighbors in this bustling debut novel set in modern-day Jerusalem. King tracks the dating fates of Beth, Akiva and Binyamin, but pays equal attention to their spiritual searching. Her attention to minor variations in levels of orthodoxy makes the book a sociological study of sorts but her richly detailed descriptions of Jerusalem (the reader can almost smell the falafel frying) and her sympathetic characters make this a fully realized novel.
A modern day retelling of the Book of Ruth. A tragic car accident leaves a mother childless and her daughter-in-law a widow. Naomi and Ruth are now each other’s only comfort. Naomi lost her own husband eight years ago, and now she has lost her son. Carrying a deep secret in her soul, Naomi decides to return to her childhood home in coastal South Carolina. When she tells Ruth her plan, she receives an unexpected reply: “Where you go, I will go.”
Stone
Kiss, by Faye Kellerman
Rina Lazarus has some shocking news for her husband, LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker. A horrible murder has occurred in the family of his half-brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levin. The rabbi's brother-in-law was found slain in a seedy hotel room in upper Manhattan, and the victim's 15-year-old niece, with whom he was spending the day, is missing. Decker, with Rina at his side, immediately heads out to New York to assist in the investigation.
Rina Lazarus has some shocking news for her husband, LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker. A horrible murder has occurred in the family of his half-brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levin. The rabbi's brother-in-law was found slain in a seedy hotel room in upper Manhattan, and the victim's 15-year-old niece, with whom he was spending the day, is missing. Decker, with Rina at his side, immediately heads out to New York to assist in the investigation.
Straight
Into Darkness, by Faye Kellerman
In 1920s Munich, the body of Anna Gross, a young society wife, has been found in the English Gardens, still clothed in finery. Soon a second body is discovered, also a woman of high society. When a third body is found, homicide detective Axel Berg realizes he’s dealing with unprecedented evil. Detective Berg soon finds himself entangled in a web of dangerous intrigue, surrounded by potential enemies. As Munich slips further into turmoil, overrun by political factions and the rise of Hitler, a dedicated policeman can never know who to trust--and one simple mistake could be deadly.
In 1920s Munich, the body of Anna Gross, a young society wife, has been found in the English Gardens, still clothed in finery. Soon a second body is discovered, also a woman of high society. When a third body is found, homicide detective Axel Berg realizes he’s dealing with unprecedented evil. Detective Berg soon finds himself entangled in a web of dangerous intrigue, surrounded by potential enemies. As Munich slips further into turmoil, overrun by political factions and the rise of Hitler, a dedicated policeman can never know who to trust--and one simple mistake could be deadly.
Sunday
Jew: A Novel, by Hortense Calisher
Hortense Calisher has been hailed as "among the most literate practitioners of modern American fiction" (Saturday Review). In this new novel, Calisher explores a family united in blood yet divided by ideas. A compelling family saga that resonates with today's issues of national and religious identity, Sunday Jews is a tour de force from a writer whose fiction has been compared with that of Eudora Welty and Henry James, and whose ability to delineate our lives is unparalleled.
Hortense Calisher has been hailed as "among the most literate practitioners of modern American fiction" (Saturday Review). In this new novel, Calisher explores a family united in blood yet divided by ideas. A compelling family saga that resonates with today's issues of national and religious identity, Sunday Jews is a tour de force from a writer whose fiction has been compared with that of Eudora Welty and Henry James, and whose ability to delineate our lives is unparalleled.
Sweet
Dreams ,
by Faye Kellerman
When Cindy Decker, Peter's LAPD officer daughter finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster, she sets out to track down the developmentally disabled mother, suspecting that the child may have been the product of a rape. Her fellow officers discourage her efforts, while an attempt on her life sparks conflict with an alarmed Peter. Romance occupies Cindy, an observant Jew, as much as her professional career.
When Cindy Decker, Peter's LAPD officer daughter finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster, she sets out to track down the developmentally disabled mother, suspecting that the child may have been the product of a rape. Her fellow officers discourage her efforts, while an attempt on her life sparks conflict with an alarmed Peter. Romance occupies Cindy, an observant Jew, as much as her professional career.
A
Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
This extraordinary and complex historical novel is the kind of book that you will find yourself haunted by long after finishing the last page. The rich fictional narrative is woven through the factual military maneuvers and political games at the end of WW II, sharing a little-known story of a group of Italian citizens that sheltered more than 40,000 Jews from grueling work camp executions. Rather than the bleak and hopeless feeling that might be expected, the novel has the opposite effect; it reminds us that just as there will always be war, crime, and death, so too will there be good people who selflessly sacrifice themselves to ease the suffering of others.
This extraordinary and complex historical novel is the kind of book that you will find yourself haunted by long after finishing the last page. The rich fictional narrative is woven through the factual military maneuvers and political games at the end of WW II, sharing a little-known story of a group of Italian citizens that sheltered more than 40,000 Jews from grueling work camp executions. Rather than the bleak and hopeless feeling that might be expected, the novel has the opposite effect; it reminds us that just as there will always be war, crime, and death, so too will there be good people who selflessly sacrifice themselves to ease the suffering of others.
Three
Daughters , by Letty Pogrebin
Pogrebin, one of the founders of Ms. magazine and the author of numerous works of nonfiction, offers a dazzling debut novel. The three middle-aged Wasserman sisters share a dysfunctional background but no longer have very much in common. After their father, an esteemed rabbi who has relocated to Israel, announces he will return to New York for the millennium and wishes to celebrate with his three daughters, it is up to Shoshanna, the professional problem solver, to orchestrate a reunion of the estranged family members. Pogrebin does a superb job of interweaving several complex personal histories into a humorous and heartbreakingly honest family melodrama.
Pogrebin, one of the founders of Ms. magazine and the author of numerous works of nonfiction, offers a dazzling debut novel. The three middle-aged Wasserman sisters share a dysfunctional background but no longer have very much in common. After their father, an esteemed rabbi who has relocated to Israel, announces he will return to New York for the millennium and wishes to celebrate with his three daughters, it is up to Shoshanna, the professional problem solver, to orchestrate a reunion of the estranged family members. Pogrebin does a superb job of interweaving several complex personal histories into a humorous and heartbreakingly honest family melodrama.
Welcome
to Heavenly Heights: A Novel, by Risa Miller
For Jews, Israel is not merely a country, but "the Land of Israel, the biblical promised portion"-in other words, "home." The families in Miller's first novel are mainly immigrants from the U.S. who now live in a small settlement in an embattled area outside Jerusalem, motivated by the conviction that it's their responsibility to reclaim the land of the biblical patriarchs. Miller convincingly portrays the faith that leads people to leave their comfortable homes in American suburbs and relocate to a dangerous place where car and bus bombs are always a threat, and random shootings are common.
For Jews, Israel is not merely a country, but "the Land of Israel, the biblical promised portion"-in other words, "home." The families in Miller's first novel are mainly immigrants from the U.S. who now live in a small settlement in an embattled area outside Jerusalem, motivated by the conviction that it's their responsibility to reclaim the land of the biblical patriarchs. Miller convincingly portrays the faith that leads people to leave their comfortable homes in American suburbs and relocate to a dangerous place where car and bus bombs are always a threat, and random shootings are common.
