Novel follows American Jewish family over a century

Son of a Son by Marilyn Amster Gould; New Alliance Publishing; © 2014; ISBN 978-1-939858-84-2; 482 pages including Yiddish glossary

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – This historical novel, in which we meet four generations of the Bruchner family, takes us from the pogroms of Eastern Europe to the steerage compartment of an immigrant ship, to a job walking with mules pulling a barge on the Erie Canal, and through the thrills of falling in love, marriage, children, and successful entrepreneurship.

While we are familiar with Jewish versions of the Horatio Alger “rags to riches” stories, this novel comes in a different format from most.  Grandson Ira interviews his grandfather Meyer, the storyteller, about the important chapters of his life, occasionally adding his own comments.  The narrative, therefore, switches between first person and third person. Author Marilyn Amster Gould adds introductory passages to each chapter, reminding us of what transpired in the United States and the world as the years passed.  The book traverses American history from  the 1890s, when Meyer as a 13-year-old boy makes his way alone to America, to the 1970’s, when he is a nonagenarian reflecting upon his life,

Along the way there are some surprises including children conceived out of wedlock, and a progression of entrepreneurial opportunities that take Meyer into such business as restaurants, shaving cream manufacture, burlap manufacture, and a community theatre.  These business opportunities help move the locales of the book from upstate New York, to Ohio, to Georgia, to California.

There is a sweetness about the character Meyer, who resolves to someday bring his parents to the New World, and who pines for the Catholic girl he left behind in Presov, a Hungarian-speaking city in what today is eastern Slovakia.  On an immigrant ship, he is befriended by a Russian Jew by name of Zoltan, who loves to entertain and dreams of someday becoming a star on Broadway.  Their American adventures begin when they are offered jobs working on the Erie Canal, thus setting into motion the chain of circumstances that will shape their lives in the New World.

There are early chapters of struggle and later chapters of accomplishment in this novel , which hints but never clearly explains in detail why Ira and his father Sol—the son of Meyer—have such a difficult relationship.  The lack of conflict to drive the narrative in the later chapters at times gives the book the feel of a nostalgic memoir rather than a values-defining novel.  Nevertheless, it is a pleasant enough vehicle for helping readers to understand the great love that Jews have for America.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  Your comment may be posted in the space provided below or sent to donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com