I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour for this beautifully written and compelling new novel by Rochelle Distelheim: Jerusalem as a Second Language.

Here’s the synopsis:

SYNOPSIS: It’s 1998.  The old Soviet Union is dead, the new Russia is awash in corruption and despair.  Manya and Yuri Zalinikov, secular Jews – he, a gifted mathematician recently dismissed from the Academy,  she, a concert pianist — sell black market electronics in a market stall, until threatened with a gun by a Mafioso in search of protection money.  Yuri sinks into a Chekhovian melancholy, emerging  to announce that he wants to “live as a Jew” in Israel. Manya and their daughter, Galina, are desolate, asking “how does one do that,” and “why?”

Thus begins their odyssey, part  tragedy, part comedy but always surprising. Struggling against loneliness, language, and danger, Yuri finds a Talmudic teacher equally addicted to religion and luxury; Manya finds a job playing the piano at The White Nights supper club, owned by a wealthy, flamboyant Russian  with a murky history,  who offers lust disguised as love. Galina, enrolled at Hebrew University,  finds dance clubs and pizza emporiums and a string of young men, one of whom Manya hopes will save her from the Israeli army by marrying her. 

Against a potpourri of marriage wigs, matchmaking television shows, disastrous investment schemes, and a suicide bombing, JERUSALEM AS A SECOND LANGUAGE confronts the thin line between religious faith and skepticism.

BUY LINKS: Amazon, Aubade Publishing (not affiliated with BBNB)

This was such an interesting story and so very believable. I had to think that this was largely based in personal experience (??). Now is a time when immigration is so prevalent in the news; it’s so moving to read a book of “strangers in a strange land”. At times I found this novel laugh out loud funny. At times it nearly broke my heart.

Highly recommended!

Here’s a bit on the author, who recently passed away (at 92):

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rochelle Distelheim, a Chicago native, earned numerous short story literary awards, including The Katherine Anne Porter Prize; Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards and Fellowships; The Ragdale Foundation Fellowships; The Faulkner Society Gold Medal in Novel-in-Progress; The Faulkner Society Gold Medal in Novel; The Gival Press 2017 Short Story Competition; Finalist, Glimmer Train’s Emerging Writers; and The Salamander Second Prize in Short Story. In addition, Rochelle’s short stories earned nominations for The Best American Short Stories and The Pushcart Prize.  Her stories appeared in national magazines such as Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Woman’s World, Working Woman, Working Mother, and more.  Her first novel, Sadie in Love, was published in 2018 when she was 90 years old.  She lived in Highland Park, IL. Here is the obituary that ran in the Chicago Tribune: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=rochelle-distelheim&pid=196338405&fhid=2000.

But wait, there’s more!

Over the River Publications will send ONE LUCKY U.S. READER a copy of Jerusalem as a Second Language and Ms. Distelheim’s first book: Sadie in Love. Please leave a comment in the comments. I will use random.org to pick a comment number and that person will be the winner! I will then contact that person so that I can get them in touch with OTR publications.