Sown in tears by Beverly Magid

 

Name of Book: Sown in Tears

Author: Beverly Magid

ISBN: 9781478104575

Publisher: Self published

Part of a Series: Where do I go? Is a sequel 

Type of book: Russia, 1905 1906, pogrom, survival, lessons, ptsd, revolution, work, Judaism, widowhood, betrayal, murder 

Year it was published: 2012

Summary:

The novel is set in Russia, 1905. Anti-semitism is virulent and most Jews are confined to live in the Settlement of Pale. After an attack of the village of Koritz, Leah Peretz survives but is left alone to care for her two young children. Her life is complicated by the unexpected attentions of the Russian officer, Captain Vaselik. Can she trust him? Should she allow herself to become involved with the burgeoning underground revolutionalry movement starting up in the country. Leah's journey to self-discovery in a time of chaos and upset is a difficult but rewarding one

Characters:

Main characters include Leah and Vaselik. Leah is a recent widow who has to care for her two young sons; Benny and Joseph. Leah is well educated, determined and tends to be a romantic. She also tends to rebel. I am not sure if her family of origin is wealthy or not. Vaselik is in charge of a local Russian army who has suffered misfortune in terms of finances and deaths in family yet still attempts to do what is right. I admit that I was surprised that he is painted as a human being instead of a devil's reincarnate. 

Theme:

I did read story from cover to cover, yet I am not 100 percent sure on what I should have gleaned from it. Maybe the strength during difficult times? 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Leahs and Vaseliks points of view. The story begins in either 1905 or 1906 when a pogrom happened, and later on it describes Leahs attempts to survive and make money in a world that is incredibly hostile to her because she is a Jew. It also tries to examine Vaselik, a Russian captain of the army who has a bad past with a particular Jew. There is romance, but I think I would have loved it even more if Vaselik would have been more willing to see and understand Jewish life during that particular time, or if both characters could have gotten closer together by seeing one another fully instead of mere words. 

Author Information:
(Goodreads)

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 but still considers herself a New Yorker. . She is an active member of Jewish World Watch, a California-based organization, which works to end genocide and is on-the-ground in Africa helping to aid and educate the victims of war atrocities.

She's a news and political junkie and supports environmental, animal and human rights issues. In her spare time, she has been mentoring elementary children in reading as well as volunteering at the Los Angeles Zoo, working with the Research Department in observing animal behavior.

Opinion:

I am thrilled to introduce a Jewish representation outside of ww2. Seriously. I also love that the novel tackles pogroms in Russia, something that I have yet to see in Jewish lit which are pretty much nothing but ww2 representation, at least ones that are getting a ton of attention and publicity. This is a sequel to WHERE DO I GO, which I reviewed few years ago, and this is a reread for me. While it's well written with compelling characters and plot that literally means life and death, I think I would have liked it more if there could be more background information on Leah and less repetitive information on Vaseliks history of why he dislikes Jews.   

This was given for review 

4 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.)