Four Jewish women of the 20th century
Save over 25% when you buy them all
Ben Yehuda Press is proud to present these four books -- two of them novels, two autobiographical works-- featuring strong women. Our heroines lived through the events of the past hundred years, from the Russian Revolution to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Each is extraordinary in her own right: a dedicated atheist, an Orthodox Jew, a life-long activist and a young hard-scrabble survivor in tragicomic circumstances. What these very different women have in common is a well-told tale.
Rifka Rosenwein. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, journalist Rifka Rosenwein
chronicled her suburban, soccer-mom life for seven years in a column in the back of The Jewish Week.
In 2001, Rifka's world was changed forever: first, like the rest of us, by the events of September 11th; and then, in a more personal blow, by a diagnosis of cancer. She died in 2003 at the age of 42.
Even when she discusses her life as being lived on "cancer time," her columns are a death-defying celebration of life. Reading her work, you can see your own friends, your parents, your children, your co-workers, your spouse... and yourself.
Life in the Present Tense: Reflections on Faith and Family by Rifka Rosenwein. $15.95.
Hanne Goldschmidt. Nicolette Maleckar draws upon her experiences in post-war Berlin in telling the story of Hanne, a brave-hearted waif who seeks to begin her life in the rubble of a shattered world.
Hanne's story is a delightful rendering of the first blush of love in an impossible time. Her tale has been praised by West Virgina Public Radio for the "fairy-tale quality of the characters."
The Lilac Tree: An Enchanting Novel of Love in the Ruins of Berlin, 1945 by Nicolette Maleckar. $17.50.
Bessie Sainer. Bessie's "career" is full of hazards. At the age of twelve, she is exiled to Siberia because of her brothers' anti-czarist activities. At twenty-five, she loses her husband and baby girl to the ravages of civil war in revolutionary Russia.
At forty, she faces down Nazi hoodlums as she tries to disrupt a pro-Hitler rally in Madison Square Garden. At fifty-five, she is driven underground by McCarthyite persecution. At sixty-two, she squares off against racists in the South—and nearly loses the loyalty of her beloved daughter.
At eighty-eight, she is still making trouble and still making jokes.
A profoundly optimistic novel about a remarkable heroine—rebel, lover, mother, grandmother, Jew, and an extraordinary human being.
Bessie: A Novel of Love and Revolution by Lawrence Bush. $19.95
Dorothy Epstein. Growing up in the immigrant communities of New York, Dorothy Epstein entered the workforce during the worst part of the Depression. The child of activists herself, Dorothy had been loathe to follow in their overburdened, impoverished footsteps.
However, fate intervened, and Dorothy soon became radicalized. Thereafter, she spent most of her life working for the advancement of labor unions and human rights. She died in 2006 at the age of 92.
A Song of Social Significance: Memoirs of an Activist by Dorothy Epstein. $16.95.