G965 Book Review of Where do I go by Beverly Magid

Name of Book: Where Do I Go

Author: Beverly Magid

ISBN: 9780692945032

Publisher: BeWrite Press

Part of a Series: Sown in Tears is the prequel

Type of book: 1908, work, daily struggles, life in America, courtship, Jewish life, children working, unions, shirtwaist factories, money, secrets, New York, dashed hopes, learning

Year it was published: 2017

Summary:

The year is 1908. Leah and her two sons have survived a pogrom against Jews in Russia and now have come to live with her brothers in the Lower East Side of New York City. But life is so much harder than they expected. No one is shooting at them, but Leah must worry about the horrific conditions in the garment sweat shop she works in. Ten year old Benny is secretly running errands for the local mobster. Leah looks for her place in life, to achieve a bit of beauty, some dignity and perhaps a little love, but she knows the risk she runs by fighting the bosses. Run the risk or stay quiet, don't make any trouble.

Characters:

Main characters include Leah, a young mother with two sons who is best described as plucky, resourceful, daring and someone who's not afraid to do the right thing. Benny is Leah's oldest son, about eleven years of age who misses his father a lot and has gift for studying Torah. He works for local hoodlums because he has little to no choice and is with first graders because of his limited vocabulary. Leah also has two brothers named Dov and Gershon who are there but aren't drawn as well as Leah and her family. In the story there is also Aaron, an American-Jew who seems to like her and will do whatever he can for her. There are other characters such as Mr. Wollowitz and Benny's bosses, but beyond caricatures they aren't drawn broadly.

Theme:

Do the right thing even if it doesn't benefit anyone?

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Leah's and Benny's points of view. While there is some attention to romance, most of it comes to family and how Leah and her brothers are there for one another through thick and thin. There is also story of doing the right thing even though it might not benefit anyone personally and it also answers the questions as to why unions and rights exist in the first place, which people will need a reminder because of the turbulent times.

Author Information:
(From HFVBT)

AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND EBOOK ON AMAZON

About the Author

Beverly Magid, before writing her novel, was a journalist and an entertainment and celebrity PR executive, who interviewed many luminaries, including John Lennon, Jim Croce and the Monty Python gang, and as a publicist represented clients in music, tv and film, ranging from Whoopi Goldberg, John Denver and Dolly Parton to Tom Skerritt, Martin Landau, Kathy Ireland and Jacqueline Bisset.

Beverly is a longtime west coast resident who still considers herself a New Yorker. Among the social issues she’s passionate about is literacy and she worked with KorehLA to mentor elementary children in reading. Also she has been an advocate for Jewish World Watch, an organization dedicated to working against genocide and to aid the victims of war atrocities. On a lighter side, she is also a volunteer at the Los Angeles Zoo, monitoring animal behavior for their Research Department.

She is a news and political junkie who supports environmental, animal and human rights issues. She believes most passionately that “We must remain vigilant to the those who would erode the rights of people around the world and work to defeat them.”

For more information, please visit Beverly Magid’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Opinion:

When it comes to Jewish lives and immigration, the only event that dares to pop up is Holocaust. I'm not against Holocaust novels, but often times I wish to see more aspects beyond that event to be represented in Jewish fiction, and this book is an answer to my prayer. I've previously read Jews without Money by Michael Gold and while I enjoyed it, the story of immigration in there was nothing but despair; people try, people fail to make something of themselves and have to return to old roots. In this story, while its drawn realistically, there is also hope for Leah's future, that she will amount to something more than the requirements of her day. It's also relief that despite the monotony and hardship, Leah and her family enjoy the moments of daily life be it picnics, weddings, courting or just being together in the new land. A beautiful and poignant story of an all too forgotten history of Jewish immigrants.

This is for HFVBT

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, January 15
Review at Donna’s Book Blog
Feature at What Is That Book About

Tuesday, January 16
Guest Post at My Reading Corner

Wednesday, January 17
Excerpt at WS Momma Readers Nook

Monday, January 22
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books
Feature at View From the Birdhouse
Excerpt at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots

Tuesday, January 23
Feature at A Literary Vacation

Thursday, January 25
Feature at Just One More Chapter

Friday, January 26
Review at Life of a Female Bibliophile
Interview at Dianne Ascroft’s Blog

Sunday, January 28
Feature at Books of a Shy Girl

Monday, January 29
Review at Back Porchervations

Tuesday, January 30
Review & Interview at Elizabeth Jane Corbett

Wednesday, January 31
Review at Cup of Sensibility
Feature at A Holland Reads

Thursday, February 1
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Friday, February 2
Guest Post at Passages to the Past4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)