by Lauren Grodstein
Read by Mary Ross (1 Cd)
This is the story of two families in New Jersey who have been close since Peter and Joe were in medical school together. The lives of one couple were shattered by an unthinkable event which questions the relationship between the families. A very well written story, definitely keeping the reader at the edge of his seat. This book includes some swear words.
No. 1633
Friendly Fire A Duet
by A B Yehoshua
Read by Michael Radbil (1 Cd)
A husband and wife spend a week apart over the Channukah holiday in Israel. She goes to deepest Africa to visit her recently widowed brother-in-law and to revive memories of her sister. Whilst there she opens up wounds caused by another death, a death by friendly fire. Her husband, Amotz stays behind in Tel Aviv juggling between work and family issues without the customary support of his wife. Life in this modern Israeli family is full, complicated and often humorous but behind it lies a fragile society deeply uneasy with itself. The book takes the form of short, interwoven chapters creating a duet-like narrative which probes deeply into human relationships. Though suffering from being translated from Hebrew, A B Yehoshua taps into the psyche of the reader of his native Israel, leaving a lasting impression.
No. 1686
Gael
by Judith Mok
Read by Valerie Goodhardt (1 Cd)
Judith Mok in the most lyrical style writes about a young violinist from a Jewish background who falls hopelessly in love with an Irish painter called Gael. She leaves her aristocratic husband and marries Gael and they eventually move to Ireland with their son.
She is prepared for a life of poverty, and struggles with the anti- semitic sentiments she encounters. As Gael grows increasingly delusional and violent she desperately attempts to maintain a semblance of normal family life while still pursuing her career. Gael is at once a moving love story and a brutal sardonic portrayal of a destructive marriage that comes to a devastating end.
No. 1445
Gallery of Vanished Husbands, The
by Natasha Solomons
Read by Ruth Hill
At thirty a woman has a directness in her eye. Juliet Montague did anyhow. She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to buy a refrigerator.But in a rash moment, Juliet commissions a portrait of herself instead. She has been closeted by her conservative Jewish community for too long, ever since her husband disappeared. Now she is ready to be seen.
So begins the journey of a suburban wife and mother into the heart of '60s London and its thriving art world, where she proves an astute spotter of talent. Yet she remains an outsider: drawn to a reclusive artist who never leaves Dorset and unable to feel free until she has tracked down her husband - a quest that leads to California and a startling discovery.
No. 1799
Garden Of The Finzi-Continis, The
by Giorgio Bassani
Read by Hilary Michel (1 Cd)
This is a haunting novel which gives us an insight into the mood and atmosphere of Italy, particularly Ferrara. Set in the 1930's the story focuses on an aristocratic Jewish family who invite a number of their Jewish friends from their tennis club to use their garden for parties, tennis and socialising. As because of the racial laws, they have been banned from the public places. The narrator looks back on the days before the Finzi-Continis' sudden disappearance to Germany in 1943.
No. 1587
Getting It Right
by Ruthie Pearlman
Read by Shirley Bloch (1 Cd)
This is an excellent sequel to 'Working It Out'. An emotional and riveting story about Rifke Nesher returning to her ambition to be a doctor, while coping with marriage and motherhood which she really treasures. Her concern for her respected colleagues provides some exciting twists and turns, which eventually lead to her just rewards.
No. 1452
Girl In A Garden
by Lesley Chamberlain Read by Gill Bennun (1 Cd)
It is 1961 and something has gone badly wrong at number 17 Esper Road. Charles is in search of a better world and his wife hankers after parties in Spain and the latest fashions. All they have in common is their disappointing tomboy daughter. This is a very sensitive story as we become aware that both mother and daughter are in love with a Polish refugee.
No. 1356
Giving Up America
by Pearl Abraham
Read by Roberta Lewis (1 Cd)
A poignant and often humorous novel tracing the life of a young woman caught between the Hasidic world of her ancestors and the materialism of secular America. Deena and David have been married for seven years and have just bought their first house.
Deena expected that this would bring them closer but instead it begins to create a strain on what she thought was a good marriage. Deena's parents would like her to return to Israel, but Deena is not sure she is ready to return to her roots and her old life there.
No. 1375
Glass Room, The
by Simon Mawer
Read by Diana Toeman
On honeymoon in 1929, Victor and Liesel Landauer face a new world when they meet brilliant architect Rainer von Abt. Soon, on a hillside near a provincial Czech town, the Landauer House with its celebrated Glass room will become von Abt's greatest work, a modernist masterpiece in glass and steel. But while Victor's beautiful wife is Aryan, he is Jewish and so when the Nazi troops arrive, the family must flee. Yet their exile is not the end of the spectacular building. It slips from Czech to Nazi to Soviet hands and finally to the Czechoslovak state, until, with the collapse of Communism, the Landauers can finally return to where their story began.
No. 1517
Gold-Rimmed Spectacles, The
by Giorgio Bassani
Read by Rita Rosenbaum
Giorgio Bassani (the author of The Garden of the Finzi - Continis) tells the story of Dr. Fadigati who arrives in Ferrara (Italy) in the 1930's. Full of hope, modern, he wants to fit into his new home. But his appeal soon crumbles when the young man he pays to be his lover publicly humiliates him by revealing the doctor's homosexuality. As anti - Semitsm spreads across Italy the Jewish narrator feels pity for the ostracised doctor and the fickle nature of a community changing under the political forces of Mussolini becomes clear. Bassani's novel is a gripping and tragic study of historical realities that can shatter individual lives.
No. 1744
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