Recommended Listening

Looking for a last-minute Chanukah present? Or simply a fan of klezmer music, or of fabulous, folklore-inspired arts? Then I highly recommend Ellen Kushner's THE WITCHES OF LUBLIN, which you can download directly from Audible.com.  Ellen wrote it the script with klezmer greats Elizabeth Schwartz & Yale Strom, who also provide an extra hour of wonderful music. Here's what AudioFile Magazine says about it:

"In a story at once tragic, mystically uplifting, and historically accurate, Tovah Feldshuh plays a widowed Jewish woman in eighteenth-century Poland who, with her daughters and granddaughter, defies tradition by performing music for non-Jews at a nearby town to earn money for Passover provisions. The all-star cast includes Simon Jones as a tyrannical nobleman and Barbara Rosenblat as the self-righteous wife of a butcher.  Neil Gaiman portrays the nobleman’s son, who falls in love with the nightingale-voiced granddaughter (Elizabeth Boskey) and requests that the four women perform at his coming-of-age party. With its powerful performances—woven with Yale Strom’s music, touching script, and outstanding direction, THE WITCHES OF LUBLIN is a story that will leave listeners both haunted and inspired."

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2012 Audies Finalist