First published 1982
Isaac Bashevis Singer steps off the boat into America as a young Polish Jewish immigrant. The new country overwhelms him with its strangeness. He carries memories of three women from Poland: Lena, whom he once hid from police because of her political beliefs; Esther, his red-haired, freckled cousin; and Stefa, who married another man but remained his closest female friend. In America, his older brother has already established himself as a writer. Singer navigates the artistic community on the Lower East Side and joins the staff at the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper. There he writes his weekly column "Worth Knowing" for meager dollars that barely cover his drafty room and simple meals. The new land brings new women into his life. Nestra becomes his beautiful landlady. Zosia travels with him as his companion across the Atlantic. Singer must reconcile his past attachments with present possibilities as he builds a life between two worlds.
Genres: 20th-century, american, biographical-fiction, jewish
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, past-attachments
Setting: America, Poland
Period: 20th-century
257 pages · Hardcover · Brombergs bokförlag