Book picks similar to
A Time to Rend, A Time to Sew by Rachel Pomerantz
fiction
jewish
2-star
jewish-author
Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan
Ruth Gilligan - 2017
In 1958, a mute Jewish boy locked away in a mental institution outside of Dublin forms an unlikely friendship with a man consumed by the story of the love he lost nearly two decades earlier. And in present-day London, an Irish journalist is forced to confront her conflicting notions of identity and family when her Jewish boyfriend asks her to make a true leap of faith. These three arcs, which span generations and intertwine in revelatory ways, come together to tell the haunting story of Ireland’s all-but-forgotten Jewish community. Ruth Gilligan’s beautiful and heartbreaking Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan explores the question of just how far we will go to understand who we really are, and to feel at home in the world.
More Than I Love My Life
David Grossman - 2019
A bitter secret divides each mother-and-daughter pair, though Gili--abandoned by Nina when she was just three--has always been close to her grandmother. With Gili making the arrangements, they travel together to Goli Otok, a barren island off the coast of Croatia, where Vera was imprisoned and tortured for three years as a young wife after she refused to betray her husband and denounce him as an enemy of the people. This unlikely journey--filtered through the lens of Gili's camera, as she seeks to make a film that might help explain her life--lays bare the intertwining of fear, love, and mercy, and the complex overlapping demands of romantic and parental passion.More Than I Love My Life was inspired by the true story of one of David Grossman's longtime confidantes, a woman who, in the early 1950s, was held on the notorious Goli Otok (the Adriatic Alcatraz). With flashbacks to the stalwart Vera protecting what was most precious on the wretched rock where she was held, and Grossman's fearless examination of the human heart, this swift novel will thrill his many readers and bring new ones into the fold.
The Tin Horse
Janice Steinberg - 2013
While she's packing her possessions, she finds a clue to the whereabouts of her twin sister, who disappeared from the little-known Jewish mecca of Boyle Heights on the eve of WWII when the girls were eighteen. Plunging back into memories of her childhood and the momentous historical facts that impacted her family, Elaine recalls her family's stories-those from the Old Country, and tales of immigration travails, and the heartache of being the "smart" one of the twins instead of the "popular" one.In an utterly unforgettable, salty voice, Elaine revives the memories of growing up with her twin sister Barbara, her parents, her Zayde, her aunts and her younger sisters as the Greensteins bear the disappointments, heartbreaks, and fallout from the immigrant baggage that they have been unable to shed despite settling in southern California-the land of sunshine and opportunity, fig trees and equality.Janice Steinberg's novel is not only about the stories that make up our family histories, but also about those we tell ourselves in order to believe in who we've made ourselves out to be.
The Betrayers
David Bezmozgis - 2014
When he refuses to back down from a contrary but principled stand regarding the West Bank settlements, his political opponents expose his affair with a mistress decades his junior. He and the fierce young Leora flee the scandal for Yalta, where, in an unexpected turn of events, he comes face-to-face with the former friend who denounced him to the KGB almost 40 years earlier.In a mere 24 hours, Kotler must face the ultimate reckoning, both with those who have betrayed him and with those whom he has betrayed, including a teenage daughter, a son facing his own ethical dilemmas in the Israeli army, and the wife who stood by his side through so much.In prose that is elegant, sly, precise, and devastating, David Bezmozgis has rendered a story for the ages, an inquest into the nature of fate and consequence, love and forgiveness.
The Hope
Herman Wouk - 1993
In The Hope, his long-awaited return to historical fiction, he turns to one of the most thrilling stories of our time - the saga of Israel. In the grand, epic style of The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, The Hope plunges the reader into the major battles, the disasters and victories, and the fragile periods of peace from the 1948 War of Independence to the astounding triumph of the Six-Day War in 1967. And since Israelis have seen their share of comic mishaps as well as heroism, this novel offers some of Herman Wouk's most amusing scenes since the famed "strawberry business" in The Caine Mutiny. First to last The Hope is a tale of four Israeli army officers and the women they love: Zev Barak, Viennese-born cultured military man; Benny Luria, ace fighter pilot with religious stirrings; Sam Pasternak, sardonic and mysterious Mossad man; and an antic dashing warrior they call Kishote, Hebrew for Quixote, who arrives at Israel's first pitched battle a refugee boy on a mule and over the years rises to high rank. In the love stories of these four men, the author of Marjorie Morningstar has created a gallery of three memorable Israeli women and one quirky fascinating American, daughter of a high CIA official and headmistress of a Washington girls school. With the authenticity, authority, and narrative force of Wouk's finest fiction, The Hope portrays not so much the victory of one people over another, as the gallantry of the human spirit, surviving and triumphing against crushing odds. In that sense it can be called a tale of hope for all mankind; a note that Herman Wouk has struck in all his writings, against the prevailing pessimism of our turbulent century.
Hunt-U.S. Marshal XVII: Deception
W.L. Cox - 2015
This only adds fire to the problem and Hunt’s angry neighbor disappears and when he returns he confronts Hunt with a man that he claims is the rightful owner of Hidden Valley, Hunt’s ranch. Hunt stands to lose his ranch, livestock, water and mining rights unless he can do something about it, and is forced to go to court to save his ranch.Hunt and his men continue to solve the problems between ranchers and settlers as they continue to arrive and stake claims to land that irritates a rancher that has used that land for years, and Hunt’s men come too late to save one family.Hunt’s men travel to Wyoming to solve a dispute between two ranchers and end up in a gun battle in a saloon where one of the rancher’s sons shoots a man in the back, and then draws a gun on Bill Robertson, one of Hunt’s best deputies. When they confront the rancher, and his hired guns, the rancher, and his men go for their guns, and the U.S. Deputy Marshals are outnumbered.This episode of Hunt is filled with gun battles, land thieves, con men, and surprising finales.
The Rose Stone
Teresa Crane - 1985
A diamond, gained through betrayal and blood, upon which the Rosenberg family's fortunes were founded and whose price is yet to be paid. Kiev, 1875: Josef Rosenberg narrowly escapes death from a Cossack raid, rescuing Tanya, the youngest daughter of his old friend Boris Anatov. Fleeing to a new life in England, his skill as a diamond cutter – and the notoriety of being the man who cut the famed Rose Stone – are the foundation of success and security. But even as his reputation for fine jewellery flourishes, and Josef’s new family grows large and wealthy, the thought of the Rose Stone – and of what had been done to acquire it – will cast a dark shadow of guilt and revenge, eclipsing generations to come.
The Rose Stone is a dazzling saga of love, family and suspense by the best selling author, perfect for fans of Lisa Kleypas and Santa Montefiore.
This Place of Evil
Kevin Wignall - 2021
Four high school students are being driven back from a wilderness camp in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when their teacher takes a detour. He claims he just wants to take a look at the private school where he started his teaching career, but then he heads into the deserted and remote mansion and promptly disappears. The four students find themselves stranded as a snowstorm moves in, but they become increasingly aware that they're not quite alone, and that the ghosts of this place might be the least of their problems...
The Manifestation of Caleb Lewis
Timothy D. Tims - 2015
Caleb himself falls into a dark place. Brilliant, athletic, and charismatic, he begins to use his talents to manipulate those around him. Turning his back on everyone, Caleb descends into a world of drugs, sex, and violence. Rising to be the greatest college quarterback in the nation and playing for the National Championship, Caleb has power, wealth, and women but he continues to inflict pain on everyone around him until in the depths of despair he finds hope. THE MANIFESTATION OF CALEB LEWIS is a magical story of triumph, hope, love and perseverance
Siege of Azalea Plantation (Azalea Plantation #1)
B.J. Robinson - 2015
That becomes hard to do when Lieutenant Reese Armstrong sieges it for use as a hospital for his wounded soldiers and encampment grounds during the forty-seven day standoff for control of the Mississippi River before the surrender of Vicksburg. Widow Alexis Bella Seaborne led a sheltered life in the arms of massive oaks at Azalea Plantation with her husband Luke Wyatt until the Civil War forced her to forget about the elegant dress of a lady and embrace survival when a Yankee officer took control of her home. Reese never thought he’d fall for a Southern belle, but he can’t deny the attraction he feels each time Alexis’s haunted blue eyes show passion for the home she loves and her beloved South. He can’t help but envy the love and regard she held for her husband and longs for love like it. Alexis never thought she could love again when her husband died in the war. How could she fall for a Yankee when Union soldiers killed him? Left with nothing but a war-ravaged rundown plantation after the invasion of an ocean of blue, can she find trust and faith to move on? As movement flutters in her stomach, can she let go of the past to find a future for her and her unborn child? Her first love was sweet, young, and innocent, and she loved him with all of her heart, yet this handsome Yankee devil invaded her home and made her blood sizzle. His touch seared her skin as well as her heart. Worse yet, his kisses entrapped her lips and devoured her, consuming her with a passion that told her she was still alive and had not been buried with her husband. Despite her efforts to die on the inside, he awoke the spirit, heart, and passion she thought she’d buried for good. Book one of a two book serial, but may be read as a stand-alone. The second book will pick up with Reese still battling the raging Civil War and focus on the ending of the war. This one focused on the Battle of Vicksburg.
Double Dose 2: Overdose
Apryl Cox - 2014
Nivea is still the same shady chick that JayVon is madly in love with, but there is only so much a man can take before he reaches his breaking point. Will she get it together before she loses her husband or better yet before her skeletons come from hiding? It's understandable that Coco is fed up with Von scandalous ways, but her backyard isn't squeaky clean. What will happen when her truth hit the fan? Will Von give her a pass because she's his baby momma or will she be treated like a hood rat in the streets and be dealt with? Karma is playing both fields who will walk away? Allie came to Cali to start over but her ex isn't having it. He stalks her and when he gets mad he disrespects her. She changed her number and met a new friend. The girl’s hit it off and is now enjoying life together, but is it a little too much? Brandy and Jay is falling for each other, but will the love they have for the ones who are hurting them prevent them from crossing the line of no return? Are you ready for an Overdose of love, scandal, and drama?
Rabbitskin
Catturd - 2020
What I destroyed in that building might end up saving this sorry planet.This dumbass shrink has been trying to dissect my brain all week. He thinks the months I spent lost in the wilderness somehow turned me into a Loony Tune. Boy, is he barking up the wrong tree. No matter how many drugs they pump into my veins, they'll never make me forget what really happened.
Freedom's Island
Sabra Waldfogel - 2015
The town’s mayor, Jim Truehart, bought the land from his former master Hiram Little and transformed the Delta swamp into the best cotton land in the county. Now Little wants the land back, and he hires a man for the job that everyone in Willow Bend knows too well—former Klansman Benjamin Loveless, who carried out a massacre in the neighboring county ten years before. Byrd thought he was done with being a soldier. But his friendship with Truehart—and his love for Truehart’s eighteen-year-old daughter Bernie—pull him into Willow Bend’s fight. As danger comes ever closer, Byrd decides to join with Willow Bend for battle. Will it be a fight for freedom...or a massacre?
Diary of a Stressed Out Mother: 'Madness'
Nicola Kelsall - 2017
Dora Loveday is a harassed mother of four kids, grappling with a crazy menagerie of pets, an impervious and obstinate husband, and a relentless bombardment of trials and tribulations that would test a saint. In this wonderful sequel, this book does not fail to deliver a fabulous read, just as funny as the first.