SOLVED. Epic novel three generations refusenik. [s]

[Brian]

The author has some kind of Russian name. I thought the name of the book was bloodlines and they say something like I have to help you because we share the same bloodline. One group is in NY, one is Israel and one in Russia. The guy tries to leave and becomes a refusenik. Eventually someone has an affair. The husband and wife get separated and the wife dates one of the other characters, the husband also dates one of the other characters. The inside cover of the book has an ominous warning, most of this is anonymous for obvious reasons that oppression and reprisals still exist at the moment of this writing. Probably written in 1989 around then it was a big deal Americans trying to get Jews out of Russia and asking the government for help. Another weird thing happens in the book the husband says something like I have to go to the bathroom because there is nothing else to do. The book was really good, long and I gave it to my mother-in-law. She threw it away. She said it wasn't her kind of book.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Just a stab - The Gates of November? Maybe published too late.

[Brian]

thanks for trying. I know that author from the chosen.

[Brian]

bump

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Mass market fiction or literary fiction? Author female or male? Remember the cover?

[Brian]

male

[Penny]

No time for tears by Cynthia Freeman, perhaps?

[Brian]

Not it sounds like a great book, thanks for trying.

[Tab]

Sounds like Life Lines by Joseph Viertel

Here is a review from Kirkus. I'm putting it behind a spoiler b/c of the length and spoilers

(view spoiler)[Kirkus:
/* Starred Review */ A sizable, efficient Jewish family-dynasty novel--designed with the authority of an author who can control his mainspring message (contemporary Soviet oppressions) while spinning out the complexities of domestic entanglement and suspenseful action. Dr. Yuri Karpeyko, Professor of Pediatrics at the Institute of Medicine in Minsk in 1973, finds himself suddenly the target of government-ordained, anti-Jewish persecution: in spite of his World War II heroism, the fame of his old Bolshevik father, and the friendship of Party bigwig Pyotr, it is plain that Yuri's days as a privileged, patriotic Soviet citizen are numbered. So Pyotr advises him to emigrate as soon as possible--with wife Cleo and scientist-daughter Yelena. And when Yuri then writes to a distant cousin in New York, department-store czar Martin Singer, the widely dispersed family history will emerge--as Yuri discovers a Jewish identity and Martin reinforces his own. Through 19th-century letters written by Martin's opportunist, adventuring grandfather Moishe, we learn about life in the Jewish community of Minsk--violent, heartbreaking. Moishe's sister Fegele, mother of Ivan, will die in the Revolution; brother Herschel will leave for Israel and become the father of Rachel, now 75 and a valued aide to Golda Melt. And while family ties in three countries tighten (Rachel is on a fund-raising tour in the States), Martin, tended through illness by volatile wife Jenny, muses on generational recurrences: sons repudiating fathers; a touch of too-callous ambition; sneakily unfaithful wives. Meanwhile, too, Yuri is arrested, detained, temporarily released, then goes into hiding--so the indomitable Rachel conceives a delicate, daring rescue plan which will bring Rachel, Jenny, her son Josh (with his girl), and Rachel's Israeli grandson to Russia. There's an intricate series of deceptions featuring disguises, shuffled passports and documents, coded messages and zig-zag transits. (hide spoiler)]

[Brian]

You are a genius. I have been looking for the title, blood lines, life lines. Thank you so much. We can move this to solved. Thank you to other who tried to figure it out. Tab, thank you for solving this mystery for me. I really appreciate it.

[Tab]

You're welcome :)