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The Widow's Son
Enjoy the music, politics, fashion, televison and movie fare of the 1960s. Did you know that 2 days before the blizzard of 1967 that brought the Midwest to a halt, it was a balmy 65 degrees? Or that Wild Thing by the Troggs kicked the Beatle's Paperback Writer off the top of the pop charts? Or that Gomer Pyle USMC replaced the Dick Van Dyke Show? These details unique to 1966 and 1967 also include the Apollo 1 disaster, what young men did to avoid the draft and Vietnam, and President Johnson's conclusion in 1966 that the Vietnam War had been as good as won. All of this incredible history, accurately researched and woven into this incredible story without a seam, presents a historic backdrop for a powerful tale of survival - and the detemination of a neighborhood filled with beloved nuts and bolts who go beyond the call to save a broken family. And it all begins with these words of a child's lament - When I hear the news I want to jump on the dining room clock and make time go backwards . . . Based on the real life loss of the author's father, Bruce Steinberg brings his passionate tale home as told through the eyes of his oldest brother - a child on the cusp of manhood who does not easily take to wearing the crown of New Man of the House.The moment 12-year-old Jeremy Rosenberg witnesses his father's death, Jeremy loses the world he assumed would last forever. With a young brother expecting their father to yet come home, a sister blaming herself, and a mother falling toward isolation, Jeremy is sent fatherless into the world just as he enters adolescence. Beautifully and memorably set in mid-1960s Chicago suburbia, The Widow's Son is launched on a devastating moment. But this tale of misguided efforts and accidental triumphs of children forced into adult emotions creates a humorous, poignant novel. The reader's laughter and tears are sure to flow together to the last page as Jeremy battles to make his family into a family once again.Author Bruce Steinberg also writes under the name B.R. Robb, and is the author of River Ghosts, a critically acclaimed novel for your review under Amazon.com's Look Inside program.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 10, 2001
46 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 9, 2012
I loved this book. It's a shame that more people haven't read it. There isn't much of a plot; really it's about a man's death and how his family cope in the aftermath, but it's never depressing. The characters were so well-written that they became almost real to me. I loved the dialogue, I loved the descriptions. I'm not sure, but it made me think that this might be based on the author's real experiences, some of it was so detailed. I also enjoyed learning about some Jewish culture, which was new to me. Great work, highly recommended.
March 19, 2016
This is a beautiful story. Sad, funny, well written. It made me laugh out loud and it made me cry, too. If you're a baby-boomer or Generation X, you'll love it for the cultural references. (Who remembers Helen Crump? Who would want to?) If you're younger, it'll give you an idea of how life was back when a whole block of boys had to share a Playboy, and girls wore saddle shoes and though they were hot.
October 31, 2012
I almost gave this book 5 stars but there were a couple of parts where the story seemed to linger on just a little too long. Just a little though. There were so many parts of this book I could relate to and the story will be one that I remember because of some of those similarities. His descriptions of not being able to cry after his father's death and feeling the need to take care of everyone felt very familiar. Also, I love that the siblings stayed close when they grew up. Dealing with the death of a parent as a child does make you view the world differently. And he was spot on about being frustrated about the looks from others who pity you for being in the "child of a dead father" club.
A great true story!
A great true story!
May 16, 2012
We follow 12 year old Jeremy Rosenberg through the death of his father & through the year following. The story is told from Jeremey's point of view, and we see the chaos in his family, his thoughts and friends. He learns where he stands among his peers and with his God.
This is a well written book & enjoyable read; it was a quick read & one that I kept coming back to, even though I'm reading another book.
This is a well written book & enjoyable read; it was a quick read & one that I kept coming back to, even though I'm reading another book.
May 20, 2012
I'll just start by saying that you should read this book. It is a pleasure from beginning to end. It's sad, happy, funny, charming, nostalgic, and even a little bit profound at times. For your trouble you'll enjoy a neighborhood full of interesting characters, a coming of age story, an exploration of faith, and a motorcycle. It's the best book I've read this year.
November 22, 2016
A father's son
Jeremy thought he wouldn't be able to fill his father's shoes, but through trial and error, he did. This Jewish family leaned on their faith for strength, used their sense of humor as learning tools and discovered that they were a family who overcame pain loss (with the help of a few good neighbors).
Jeremy thought he wouldn't be able to fill his father's shoes, but through trial and error, he did. This Jewish family leaned on their faith for strength, used their sense of humor as learning tools and discovered that they were a family who overcame pain loss (with the help of a few good neighbors).
September 26, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Was a very good story of a young widowed mother trying to raise 3 children on her own both emotionally and financially. Story was told through the eyes of her 13 year old son, "the man of the family now". Humorous, sad, true. Loved it.
June 22, 2022
My 17 years old daughter's recommendation. She did not tell me what it is about and just said "....You should read it."
I don't know why its rating is less than 4 stars. It does not make sense. As in someone's review, this is a very tragic setting, but it is not a sad only story. It is filled with humor, unique and enriching that is because the narrator is a pre-teen boy. I know that age. He does not show much emotions and does not talk much, but he is observing and thinking to a full extent.
I think he is who the author was. Maybe. Maybe not everything is true and what happened t him, but he must have experienced something similar. I am sending this book to Katya.
The most interesting part was that boys getting ready for Bar Mitzvah. Their discussion with a rabbi made it so clear to me for the first time what faith in God is about. I am not religious, but I am very interested in all the religions.
About that scene, I had a good conversation with Paige who is Christian. I always feel the existence of God is a "controlling and punishing" figure, but she said she feels loved and accepted. She went to explain like this.
"So- this is maybe too simplistic but I’ll give it a try: this year I joined a swim group called the yardstick club. Entirely voluntary. I was invited and I accepted the invitation. For the club to mean anything to me, I need to swim a certain amount. There isn’t a minimum amount, it is what I am able. So I have been swimming fairly consistently since I have joined. Some days I am happy to go into the pool because I know I will feel so good when I get out. Other times I am in a bad mood going in but get out feeling good. Other times I am in a bad mood going in and still in a bad mood getting out. But I keep doing it. now it is becoming a habit. No one in the club is forcing me to do this but being in this club motivates me to swim especially during times when I really don’t feel like it. I can’t take the analogy that far, but it’s kinda like that? Voluntarily putting myself under an obligation to swim knowing it is good for me even when I don’t feel like it?"
For my personal note (excerpts from the book), which prompted my conversation with Paige.
p.299
"Is it more important to do good things out of compassion, or because we do them as a commandment from God? Should we reveere people more who volunteer, or people who have followed religious commandments without fail?"
"Are you more impressed with the volunteer of good things or dutiful follower of God's commandments?"
P. 301
"Kiddushin 31a, 'Greater is he who is commanded and carries out an act, than he who is not commanded and carries it out."
"If we choose voluntarily to do a good deed today, that does not mean we will alway do that good deed each and every day. But when we feel obligated, feel that a good deed must be done because God commands it, we will continued to do that good deed for the rest of our lives. "
I don't know why its rating is less than 4 stars. It does not make sense. As in someone's review, this is a very tragic setting, but it is not a sad only story. It is filled with humor, unique and enriching that is because the narrator is a pre-teen boy. I know that age. He does not show much emotions and does not talk much, but he is observing and thinking to a full extent.
I think he is who the author was. Maybe. Maybe not everything is true and what happened t him, but he must have experienced something similar. I am sending this book to Katya.
The most interesting part was that boys getting ready for Bar Mitzvah. Their discussion with a rabbi made it so clear to me for the first time what faith in God is about. I am not religious, but I am very interested in all the religions.
About that scene, I had a good conversation with Paige who is Christian. I always feel the existence of God is a "controlling and punishing" figure, but she said she feels loved and accepted. She went to explain like this.
"So- this is maybe too simplistic but I’ll give it a try: this year I joined a swim group called the yardstick club. Entirely voluntary. I was invited and I accepted the invitation. For the club to mean anything to me, I need to swim a certain amount. There isn’t a minimum amount, it is what I am able. So I have been swimming fairly consistently since I have joined. Some days I am happy to go into the pool because I know I will feel so good when I get out. Other times I am in a bad mood going in but get out feeling good. Other times I am in a bad mood going in and still in a bad mood getting out. But I keep doing it. now it is becoming a habit. No one in the club is forcing me to do this but being in this club motivates me to swim especially during times when I really don’t feel like it. I can’t take the analogy that far, but it’s kinda like that? Voluntarily putting myself under an obligation to swim knowing it is good for me even when I don’t feel like it?"
For my personal note (excerpts from the book), which prompted my conversation with Paige.
p.299
"Is it more important to do good things out of compassion, or because we do them as a commandment from God? Should we reveere people more who volunteer, or people who have followed religious commandments without fail?"
"Are you more impressed with the volunteer of good things or dutiful follower of God's commandments?"
P. 301
"Kiddushin 31a, 'Greater is he who is commanded and carries out an act, than he who is not commanded and carries it out."
"If we choose voluntarily to do a good deed today, that does not mean we will alway do that good deed each and every day. But when we feel obligated, feel that a good deed must be done because God commands it, we will continued to do that good deed for the rest of our lives. "
March 2, 2023
This book was a gift, and I'm not sure I would have ever read it otherwise, but I did find it rewarding reading.
It's a fictionalised account of the events of the authors Jewish family, where his father died after a traffic accident, leaving his wife to bring up the children in dire financial cirumstances.
The older boy, Jeremy,who is 12 at the time, tries to make money, first with a lawn mowing scheme for the neighbours that makes no money but lets the neighbourhood know they need support and they commit to giving the family money through a weekly envelope.
What is delightful is the close bond between members of the family and the predominantly Jewish community, with the details of cultural events and celebrations forming the backdrop.
His mother is a strong person who has lost the love of her life and sets about bringing up her children. This involves her confronting the system, and getting better pay to support them but it was not an easy time to be a woman.
The up close and personal view of the rabbi and Cantor as they go about teaching the kids in readiness for Bar Mitzvah are a delight, laugh out loud funny at times but always touching.
The character Bup, a younger boy who is an outsider, also does his Bar Mitsvah but is discovered to be very ill and Jeremy helps him achieve his goal.
I would recommend this as a delightful warm story about growing up without your father and how the community that supports you can help guide you through the most difficult time of your life
Highly recommended
It's a fictionalised account of the events of the authors Jewish family, where his father died after a traffic accident, leaving his wife to bring up the children in dire financial cirumstances.
The older boy, Jeremy,who is 12 at the time, tries to make money, first with a lawn mowing scheme for the neighbours that makes no money but lets the neighbourhood know they need support and they commit to giving the family money through a weekly envelope.
What is delightful is the close bond between members of the family and the predominantly Jewish community, with the details of cultural events and celebrations forming the backdrop.
His mother is a strong person who has lost the love of her life and sets about bringing up her children. This involves her confronting the system, and getting better pay to support them but it was not an easy time to be a woman.
The up close and personal view of the rabbi and Cantor as they go about teaching the kids in readiness for Bar Mitzvah are a delight, laugh out loud funny at times but always touching.
The character Bup, a younger boy who is an outsider, also does his Bar Mitsvah but is discovered to be very ill and Jeremy helps him achieve his goal.
I would recommend this as a delightful warm story about growing up without your father and how the community that supports you can help guide you through the most difficult time of your life
Highly recommended
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2014
I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were well-thought out, three-dimensional, and sympathetic. The book is about a family struggling to stay afloat after the sudden death of the father. The story is told in first-person from the point of view of Jeremy, who is thrown into the job of "man of the house" at the age of twelve. Much too much responsibility for someone so young. With a stressed out, exhausted, and grieving mother spending her days earning a living and her nights listening to the TV, a lullaby to drown out her pain, Jeremy is forced to take on much more than he should have to. He's often in charge of his younger siblings, the feisty Cheryl, who likes to torture her younger-by-a-year brother, the insecure David. But who wouldn't be insecure when at the young age of seven, you no longer have a father to look up to and your sister will do anything to make your life miserable? I really felt for Jeremy, for all three children and the mother too, but especially Jeremy. I was happy to watch all the characters grow as time went on.
I'm a tough audience. A book has to touch me deeply to earn five stars. While I loved being transported back in time (and place--I grew up in Skokie, Illinois) and the beginning and the end had me reading scene after scene when I should have been sleeping, I gave the book four stars instead of five because it was a little slow in the middle.
All in all, I recommend reading this book, especially if you were a child in the '60s and '70s.
I'm a tough audience. A book has to touch me deeply to earn five stars. While I loved being transported back in time (and place--I grew up in Skokie, Illinois) and the beginning and the end had me reading scene after scene when I should have been sleeping, I gave the book four stars instead of five because it was a little slow in the middle.
All in all, I recommend reading this book, especially if you were a child in the '60s and '70s.
June 30, 2013
3.5 stars
This follows Jeremy, Cheryl and David through the first year after their father's death as they struggle to make sense of the world and their new life; life, however, continues around them, as they play or fight with, and despise or like their neighbors' children, as they look at what it means to be Jewish, and as they try to make it together, as a family. It gives the sense of reality, very clearly bringing out the complexity of children's emotions and their logic, reminding readers of their own childhoods.
This follows Jeremy, Cheryl and David through the first year after their father's death as they struggle to make sense of the world and their new life; life, however, continues around them, as they play or fight with, and despise or like their neighbors' children, as they look at what it means to be Jewish, and as they try to make it together, as a family. It gives the sense of reality, very clearly bringing out the complexity of children's emotions and their logic, reminding readers of their own childhoods.
February 10, 2016
The moment 12-year-old Jeremy Rosenberg witnesses his father's death, he loses the world he had assumed would last forever. With a young brother expecting "Daddy" to yet come home, a sister blaming herself, and a mother falling toward isolation, Jeremy is sent fatherless into the world just as he reaches adolescence. Effectively set in mid1960's Chicago suburbia, THE WIDOW'S SON is launched on a devastating moment, but this tale of misguided efforts and accidental triumphs of children forced into difficult times creates a humorous, poignant novel.
October 16, 2012
An enjoyable novel with likeable characters and very amusing in parts. Just found it heavy-going from the middle onwards. A realistic tale of a family coming to terms with the death of one of its members. Didn't understand all the Jewish references, but found the Jewish perspective quite fascinating.
April 22, 2014
There were a few times in the book I wanted a little more action. The book was never short on detail and description. I really felt like one of the kids that grew up in the main character's neighborhood. Although it started out sad it ended with relief and that always makes for a good book in my opinion.
July 7, 2016
A tragic death resulted in a boy suddenly becoming the man of the house, and things don't always go as planned or smoothly in this coming of age story. One thing that does stand out is a community coming together to help a family in need because every little bit helps! We need more of this and not less in the world today.
June 15, 2012
I thought this was very well done, a heartfelt story. Any shortcomings in the storyline were made up for by wonderful characters and Jeremy's voice. It kept my attention, has stayed with me after finishing it and I would recommend it to others.
June 21, 2012
Halfway through and very bored...keep waiting for a plot to develop around dad's death or something! I usually love coming of age books, but I don't know if I can finish this one or not. The writing is fair at best, and it is just not floating my boat.
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August 9, 2007I loved this book; it was easy and fun to read. The best part for me was that the author grew up in Skokie during the same time that I did, and there were many references to that.
May 10, 2012
Wonderful book. 4.5 stars
May 22, 2012
Interesting story of a young boy whose father was killed and the fall-out from that. Good book. Liked the story and the characters. I'd read more from this author.
July 12, 2012
It was not till I was nearly halfway through this book to really get into the story. Overall the book is well written and a great coming of age story.
June 30, 2012
I really loved this book. It was a bit slow-paced at times, but I thought it was a sweet coming-of-age story.
December 31, 2012
very well written and a pretty good story. I enjoyed it and will probably be looking up other books by the author.
April 18, 2013
A captivating novel about growing up in the 60s. Kudos to the author for the dialogue he created and the sense of place he established in the book. Could have been a little shorter.
April 2, 2013
Powerful
May 21, 2013
Well written coming of age story.
May 8, 2014
The Widow's Son
The Widow's Son
to long and boring. when I start a book I want to finish it it. would not recommend. No plot.
The Widow's Son
to long and boring. when I start a book I want to finish it it. would not recommend. No plot.
April 9, 2013
Exceptional dark horse!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews