Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, December 4 at 3:30 pm to discuss The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers (2007) by Harry Bernstein.
The book, written when Mr. Bernstein was 97 years old, tells the story of his family’s struggles to make ends meet on the eve of World War I in a small Lancashire mill town in England where there was an “invisible wall” dividing Jewish and Christian families. His father was a tailor, who spent most of his wages drinking and gambling. His mother was illiterate, fiercely devoted to her children, and persistently begging relatives in Chicago to send money for the family’s passage to the United States. The “love story” is about Bernstein’s older sister who did the unthinkable: falling in love with a Christian boy. The New York Times reviewer wrote of the book, “A Romeo and Juliet drama gradually unfolds…The small events of family life and the daily dramas on the street take on a shimmering, timeless quality… Mr. Bernstein, with great economy and skill, maneuvers an extensive cast of characters onto his small stage and lets their stories play out within the larger historical and social context. In the end, that little street turns out to be very big indeed.”
Led by Readers’ Services Assistant, Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.
The book, written when Mr. Bernstein was 97 years old, tells the story of his family’s struggles to make ends meet on the eve of World War I in a small Lancashire mill town in England where there was an “invisible wall” dividing Jewish and Christian families. His father was a tailor, who spent most of his wages drinking and gambling. His mother was illiterate, fiercely devoted to her children, and persistently begging relatives in Chicago to send money for the family’s passage to the United States. The “love story” is about Bernstein’s older sister who did the unthinkable: falling in love with a Christian boy. The New York Times reviewer wrote of the book, “A Romeo and Juliet drama gradually unfolds…The small events of family life and the daily dramas on the street take on a shimmering, timeless quality… Mr. Bernstein, with great economy and skill, maneuvers an extensive cast of characters onto his small stage and lets their stories play out within the larger historical and social context. In the end, that little street turns out to be very big indeed.”
Led by Readers’ Services Assistant, Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment