Jewish Fiction
Gotz and Meyer by David Albahari
Imparting the story of the systematic 1942 execution of 5,000 Belgrade concentration camp prisoners in a transport truck, a school teacher recreates historical events for his students on a school bus, an endeavor that overwhelms the teacher with the brutality of the act.
The Unthinkable Thoughts of Joseph Green by Joshua Braff
Jacob Green, a Jewish boy growing up in 1970s suburban New Jersey, struggles to deal with his fear of disappointing and yearning to escape the demands and expectations of his tyrannical, narcissistic father, Abram.
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
In a world in which Alaska, rather than Israel, has become the homeland for Jews following World War II, Detective Meyer Landsman and his partner Berko investigate the death of a heroin-addled chess prodigy.
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander
From its unforgettable opening scene in the darkness of a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won’t accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence – and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear.
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Hilarious, energetic and profoundly touching, a debut novel follows a young writer as he travels to the farmlands of eastern Europe, where he embarks on a quest to find Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis, and, guided by his young Ukrainian translator, he discovers an unexpected past that will resonate far into the future.
Love with Noodles by Harry I. Freund
Stockbroker Dan Gelder has a posh Fifth Avenue address, is two years a widower and remains faithful to his deceased wife. Numbed by grief, he is annoyed, not flattered, by the attentions of the women introduced to him by friends. This comic, yet wise, delightful novel views the follies and fallibilities of romance at a certain age, serving up love deliciously, with noodles.
Golden Country by Jennifer Gilmore
In a powerfully moving and ambitious debut, Gilmore follows the lives of three immigrant families, the Brodskys, the Verdoniks and the Blooms, who all begin their American journeys in shtetl-like Brooklyn and end up somewhere unexpected between the 1920s and the 1960s.
The World to Come by Dara Horn
Having stolen a million-dollar Marc Chagall masterpiece, 30-year-old quiz-show writer Benjamin Ziskind and his twin sister work to evade the police and evaluate the 80-year-old link between their family and the famous painting.
The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff
Becoming a spy for the resistance after the Nazis invade Poland, Emma Bau, taking on a new identity as a gentile, becomes a high-ranking Nazi official's assistant and, leading a double life, compromises her marriage vows, her safety and the lives of those she loves for the cause.
Kabbalah: a Love Story by Lawrence Kushner
When an ancient text containing the answer to one of the eternal questions of the heart falls into the hands of Rabbi Kalman Stern, his life is transformed by his encounter with astronomer Isabel Benveniste, but he is unable to let love into his life until he discovers the life-altering secret of the Zohar.
The Autobiography of God by Julius Lester
Working as a counselor at a small Vermont college, rabbi Rebecca, who has come into possession of a Torah once owned by holocaust victims, pursues suspicions about the identity of a campus murderer and spiritually explores the nature of a God who would allow evil to happen in the world.
A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss
An outsider in 18th-century London, Jewish pugilist and hired thug Benjamin Weaver prowls the city's mean streets in the service of England's gentry, tracking down debtors and thieves.
A Tale of Two Sisters by Anna Maxted
Heartache, professional differences and other mistakes threaten to separate two very different sisters – Cassandra, a charismatic and successful woman caught in a not-so-wonderful marriage, and Lizbet, a dreamer striving to make a name as a journalist.
The Outside World by Tora Mirvis
Follows the courtship and marriage of Bryan and Tzippy, the former of whom astonishes his family by rejecting their way of life in favor of a strict Orthodox lifestyle, and the latter, who longs to escape the expectations of familial obligation.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
A story of life in France under the Nazi occupation includes two parts – "Storm in June," set amid the chaotic 1940 exodus from Paris, and "Dolce," set in a German-occupied village rife with resentment, resistance and collaboration.
Heir to the Glimmering World by Cynthia Ozick
James A'bair, whose father is the author of the popular series "The Bear Boy," has taken in the eccentric Mitwisser family and the orphaned Rose Meadows, who must resist the pull of the actual Bear Boy, in a novel of Depression-era New York.
The Covenant by Naomi Ragen
When her husband and daughter disappear from their violent Jerusalem community, a pregnant Elise Margulies desperately calls her grandmother in America for help and finds herself at the front lines against terrorism.
The First Desire by Nancy Reisman
The lives of the four Cohen siblings – Sadie, Jo, Goldie and Irving – are turned upside down by the secrets that they have kept hidden, even from themselves, as the sudden disappearance of Goldie sparks revelations about their family.
Joy Comes in the Morning by Jonathan Rosen
Wrestling with the contradictions in her life, rabbi Deborah Green discovers a world of tragedy, madness, love and redemption when she encounters Henry Friedman, an older patient and Holocaust survivor who had attempted suicide.
Old School by Tobias Wolff
During his senior year at an elite New England prep school, a young man who had struggled to fit in with his contemporaries finds his life unraveling due to the school's obsession with literary figures and their work.
The Liberated Bride by Abraham B. Yehoshua
As Yohanan Rivlin, a professor at Haifa University, embarks on research into recent Algerian history with the help of a student, a young Arab bride from a Galilee village, he becomes obsessed with his son's failed marriage.