'Though she was only fourteen years old, like many other Jews in Eastern Europe’s Pale of Settlement in 1907, Rebecca Lieberman gathered her few belongings and left for the United States. What follows is a unique and poetic story of history, war, mysticism, music, abuse, survival and transcendence against the backdrop of New York City in the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s.
'“A fourteen-year-old girl is launched by pogroms and poverty into the New World, fearful and alone. How can she know that her great-granddaughter would weave her story, through imagination and a careful reading of history, into a poetic gift to her memory, and for many more generations to come?”' (Publication summary)
'Around the turn of the 20th century, Imperial Russia was a volatile place. Living conditions were harsh for most people, labour was exploitative and taxes were high. There were strikes and rebellions, and Jewish immigrants were restricted to an annexed region known as the Pale of the Settlement, where “pogroms” – antisemitic riots and mob persecutions – had long menaced.' (Introduction)
'It is 1907 in the Pale Settlement, which Magdalena Ball explains was a region of the Russian Empire from 1791 to 1917 where Jewish people were forced to live in poverty and suffered extreme abuse; there her great-grandmother dreamed of a better life. In this year, with a few bundles filled with old clothes as well as with ambition and hope, she left for the Americas and disembarked in New York.' (Introduction)
'It is 1907 in the Pale Settlement, which Magdalena Ball explains was a region of the Russian Empire from 1791 to 1917 where Jewish people were forced to live in poverty and suffered extreme abuse; there her great-grandmother dreamed of a better life. In this year, with a few bundles filled with old clothes as well as with ambition and hope, she left for the Americas and disembarked in New York.' (Introduction)
'Around the turn of the 20th century, Imperial Russia was a volatile place. Living conditions were harsh for most people, labour was exploitative and taxes were high. There were strikes and rebellions, and Jewish immigrants were restricted to an annexed region known as the Pale of the Settlement, where “pogroms” – antisemitic riots and mob persecutions – had long menaced.' (Introduction)
