The Fortune Teller's Kiss

American Lives

by Brenda Serotte

There was always the incantation: “Whoever wishes you harm, may harm come to them!” And just in case that didn’t work, there were garlic and cloves to repel the Evil Eye—or, better yet, the dried foreskin from a baby boy’s circumcision, ground to a fine powder. But whatever precautions Brenda Serotte was subjected to, they were not enough. Shortly before her eighth birthday, in the fall of 1954, she came down with polio—painfully singled out in a world already marked by differences. Her bout with the dreaded disease is at the heart of this poignant and heartbreakingly hilarious memoir of growing up a Sephardic Jew among Ashkenazi neighbors in the Bronx. This was a world of belly dancers and fortune tellers, shelter drills and vast quantities of Mediterranean food; a world of staunchly joined and endlessly contrary aunts and uncles, all drawn here in loving, merciless detail. The Fortune Teller’s Kiss is a heartfelt tribute to a disappearing culture and a paean to the author’s truly quirky clan, especially her beloved champion, her father. It is also a deft and intimate cultural history of the Bronx fifty years ago and of its middle-class inhabitants, their attitudes toward contagious illness, womanly beauty, poverty, and belonging.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was way too much going on in this book...though I was sympathetic to the author's struggle with polio, I just didn't think the book was particularly engaging or interesting. The Sephardic information is okay, but I found the book to be very repetitive and not especially well-written.

[Ruth Segal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and readable memoir about a woman who gets polio at the age of seven. I learned a huge amount I didn't know. Not only about polio but about Sephardic Jews. Her family is made up of a wild mixture of spanish and turkish very jewish very intense people. Her mother gives me the chills, for quite personal reasons and I am mind-blown by how much compassion the author has for her mother. Also moving to me personally was the fact that much of the story takes place in the New York neighborhood in which my parents were born and raised.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the true story of a young Sephardic Jewish girl living in Brooklyn in the 1950's. At the age of 8, she develops polio and her life completely changes. It is a story of the old world of gypsies and fortune tellers meeting the new world of hospitals and exreme medical treatments. Well written and interesting. It is particularly interesting due to my family background with my father who developed polio as a child and also lived in Brooklyn.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was my mother's best friend growing up in the Bronx and they are still the best of friends today. My mom and my grandparents are talked about in the novel too! I was so moved by this novel.

[Sandra Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed on my weblog www.sandralambert.com

[Ssadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

That with enough strength you can do miracles.

[Paula Korelitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about the writing, but I was very interested in both her experiences as a polio victim and her cultural life as a Turkish Sephardic Jew.

[Pam Warner]

Finding thi book hard to read. Only in PDF. Will skip for now.

[Jennie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Were it not an assigned reading for a class I'm taking, I'm not certain I'd have read this book, though I'm glad I did.

The author does an amazing job of telling the story of her fight with polio as a child, mixing a child's playfulness, curiosity and innocence with wry humor and the irony of hindsight. It's about fighting and surviving a deadly and not well understood (at the time) disease, reentering one's place in family and community after something unquestionably life changing has happened, and a Jewish girl finding her way as part of an immigrant family with the intersection of old world ways of life and those of the new.

Mostly though, it's a story about being connected to the people around you, and how that can make the difference.

[Alice Beneitez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. This book was recommended to me by a coworker. I bought it to read on a flight from California to NY. I am GLAD I SAVED IT TO READ ON THIS TRIP! It transported me to a time I knew nothing about. The descriptions of the characters jumped out at me, I learned so much from this woman’s beauty and strength. Truly a great read, had me laughing, crying, and rooting for her. A five hour plane ride became a spiritual journey. This story is why people read!

[Ellen Pilch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not only a great memoir, but also very educational. The author is a Sephardic Jew and explained a lot of her culture. All the books I have read about Jewish people have been about Ashklenazi Jewish people (from Europe). There is quite a difference.

This poor woman had polio as a child and suffered a great deal trying to recover. I had no idea that physical therapy existed back then- a much harsher version of todays. The book kept me interested from page one to the end. I was also fascinated by Turkish coffee readings and have been trying to find a place to have that done now. It is much like a tea leaf reading, but the coffee is made a special way to leave residue in the cup to be read.
Definitely a Goodread!

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting read about the author's experiences and life as a child with polio (1954) and its sociocultural ramifications of dealing with the disease. The medical world into which she was thrust was not often kind and quite shocking by today's standards. On a positive note, her time at Rusk was much better and certainly quite productive.

Her mother, difficult at best, often did not seem very supportive nor [overtly] loving. Her father, on the other hand (and I'm thinking probably unusually so) was the supportive and loving parent. Her cousin, Lorraine, was also a very supportive and loving person in her life.

The only criticism I have is the book seemed to end a bit abruptly.

A good book club selection.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know the author and met her mother who was really funny when not behind her cold exterior which I now realize was her way of not showing her conflicting feelings about her daughter's contacting polio. And her husband's gambling. Maybe she felt that would make Brenda strong to cope with her disability. Bye the way Brenda is an amazing woman who has accomplished a great deal and inspires other writers through her writing and teaching. And the father daughter relationship is very important in her story.

[Joanne Gotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book for my book club. It was well written, funny and sad at times and very engaging. It was very interesting to read it from a healthcare perspective viewing the 1950's and also what it was like prior to the ADA (disabilities) ruling being in place. Things that we take for granted now like wheelchair access and mainstreaming in the schools were not in place at the time that this story takes place.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is a true story written from the eyes of a Sephardic Jewish woman from immigrant parents who had polio as a child (in the Bronx). Because the polio epidemic was before I was born, it was really a fascinating look at the impact of the polio epidemic to the American culture and how polio victims were treated. It is also a fascinating, fun look at a family of Sephardic Jews.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

The disjointed telling of this true story of a polio victim made took away from the story. The timeline jumped all over, and nuggets of Brenda's famiy life and relatives were thrown in which seem to have no relevance to the story. While it was interesting to read about her and her family's struggles, there was a lot of flotsam thrown in which took away from the book.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting information about Sephardic Jews and a profound description of what is was like to be a child with polio in the 1950's. The isolation, fear, and triumphs were presented well, but the book became boring about 2/3 of the way. I did enjoy reading how both of her parents reacted to her situation.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This autobiographical novel was my book group's June pick; I loved learning about Sephardi Jews and their culture set against the background of New York. Brenda Serotte's story is truly tragic and highlights a dark part of US history: the polio epidemic. I was enthralled by her story and learned much about her life and her customs.

[Cindie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This shook up my preconceptions about all Sephardi families being affectionate -- and really the story was more about Brenda's polio than anything else. Still, an interesting romp about life in the 50's in NYC. And the food descriptions made me drool!

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've noted it because the Agudas book club will be reading it for August.

A memoir of growing up in the Bronx, in a Sephardic Turkish family, & of contracting polio at the age of 7. I found the polio aspects of the memoir most interesting, the rest of the book less so.

[Suzanne Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoir from the 1950's during a big polio epidemic. I was very interested in both her experiences as a polio victim and her cultural life as a Turkish Sephardic Jew. I knew people in high school who had contracted polio but never was aware of the challenges the experience caused.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a memoir, not a novel, and feels like it. An interesting look at being in the polio epidemics in NYC, which is more what the book is about than the cultural piece. Writing is adequate to at times very good, especially toward the end. I'd imagine there is a sequel coming.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about this Sephardic family and I also learned a lot about polio. It takes place over a fairly short period of time during the author's life and I was disappointed in not only the end but also, the fact that we never learned about the rest of the her life.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book describes a time and a place that I knew nothing about. The stories of her polio and her families life in NYC were very interesting. I had no idea that there were Jewish Turks living and maintaining their culture.

[Janet Masonberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

the true story of a young Sephardic Jewish girl living in Brooklyn in the 1950s. At the age of 8 she develops polio and her life completely changes. It is the story of the old world of gypsies and the fortune tellers meeting the new world of hospitals and extreme medical treatments.

[Lisa Pfeffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent story of a young girl's strength and determination to walk again after she contracts polio

[Laurie Applebaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a great deal about the Sephardic culture and also polio I found it very witty and well written from a young girl's memory.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked tis story as it was about Sephardic Jews from Turkey, a group I don't know anything about, and their second generation experience in the Bronx during the 1950's

[Lee Nespor · Rating 2 out of 5]

NSC Book Club Title

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, very readable but I did not feel that I knew the author much better at the end.