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The Pale of Settlement
In settings from Jerusalem to Manhattan, from the archaeological ruins of the Galilee to Kathmandu, The Pale of Settlement gives us characters who struggle to piece together the history and myths of their family’s past.This collection of linked short stories takes its title from the name of the western border region of the Russian empire within which Jews were required to ...more
Paperback, 232 pages
Published
October 1st 2008
by University of Georgia Press
(first published October 1st 2007)
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I should confess at the outset that some of my enthusiasm for Margot Singer's Flannery O'Connor-prizewinning collection of linked stories, The Pale of Settlement, stems from a deep sense of connection: I identify with Singer's protagonist, Susan Stern, a Jewish-American woman who is a grandchild, on her father's side, of German Jews who fled their native land in the late 1930s, and who has matrilineal roots in Eastern Europe, in that old "Pale of Settlement."
But when my fam...more
But when my fam...more
This collection starts and ends strong. I was drawn to it because of the topic and the fact that all the stories are linked. It also got good reviews. I hadn't read stories from this perspective--Israeli American--before.
My favorite pieces focus on Susan, a middle-aged/young woman reporter living in early 2000s NYC with ties to family back in Israel. Other stories focus on the rest of the family, in years past, with a mix of poetry in some pieces. Those background stories give us fre...more
My favorite pieces focus on Susan, a middle-aged/young woman reporter living in early 2000s NYC with ties to family back in Israel. Other stories focus on the rest of the family, in years past, with a mix of poetry in some pieces. Those background stories give us fre...more
Interesting topic/subject but oft-irritating execution. This collection of nine-or-so related short stories centers on a female journalist in NYC whose parents grew up in Israel and whose grandparents grew up in Europe - there is lots of back-and-forth between these locations, particularly NYC and Haifa and exploration of the oft-strained relationship between Israelis and ex-pat Israelis now living in the U.S. and also of Israel, post-1982 Lebanon war. But the stories dart back and forth from on...more
A collection of short stories about a woman whose parents immigrated to the United States. She grows up primarily in the United States, but still has strong ties to her Israeli family, visiting her grandparents every summer. The stories are set in a turbulent and politically charged Israel. She is emotionally connected to the events and family she has there, but even she knows she will never feel "at home" in Israel, despite her finding life relatively normal there.
I have found through my book club that I enjoy short stories. This collection won both the Flanner O'Connor award and the 2009 Reform Jadaism Prize for Jewish fiction. I very much enjoyed the writing---there were moments in which I stopped just to linger and appreciate a phrase and how the Interconnected short stories weaved together a view of a woman and her life that would not be possible if the story was told sequentially or only included stories in which she was the focus.
It was interesting to read a novel about Israeli’s after just having read a book about Islam. This is novel told in short stories, primarily from one person's perspective, though there are a few others thrown in. I though it was interesting that the main character, Susan, seemed to represent the Jewish diaspora. It was heartbreaking to read the interactions of Susan's uncle with his wife who has Alzheimer’s.
This was a brief look at a modern Jewish woman's search for the connection between her ethnic and familial roots and how they connect to who she is as an adult woman. It's sad and happy as she sees how she reflects all of the women in her family who have preceded her.
Thoughtful and beautifully written collection of connected stories. They are held together by the main character, a young female journalist looking for herself in the stories of her family's past.
I think I need to give this book another try - I could potentially love it, but just lost interest mid-way.
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Margot Singer is a graduate of the University of Utah (Ph.D. 2005), Oxford University (M.Phil.1986) and Harvard University (B.A. 1984). From 1986 until 1997 she worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where she was a Principal in the New York Office. She currently teaches at Denison University, where she holds the Bosler Endowed Faculty Fellowship, and in the low-residency MF...more
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