Bobish by Magdelena Ball, a New Verse Memoir

Title: Bobish 

Author: Magdalena Ball
Author Website: http://www.magdalenaball.com 
Publisher: Puncher & Wattmann (November 7, 2022)
Publisher: P.O. Box 279, Waratah NSW 2298 (Australia) 
Publisher Website Address: https://puncherandwattmann.com/ 
Price $16.99 Paperback 
Page count: 154 Pages
Formats: Paperback
ISBN: 1922571601
ISBN-13: 978-1922571601
Available on Amazon
Carolyn Wilhelm, reviewer

Bobish, by Magdelena Ball, is a new verse memoir published by Australian press Puncher & Wattmann. The poetic story follows the life of the author's great-grandmother, who was part of the mass diaspora of Jews from the Eastern European Shtetls to New York City. The book explores her experience as a Yiddish speaker in the garment industry where she worked in the ill-fated Triangle Shirtwaist factory. It continues through the two World Wars which, of course, impacted directly any family members left in her home town of Grodno (now in Belarus). Talented writer Ball transforms the life of her great-grandmother into a magical read. 

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. Alone. What follows is a unique and poetic story of history, war, mysticism, music, abuse, survival and transcendence against the back drop of New York City in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. 

I am just taken with this book! Ball's poetry gives the immigration story a fresh new perspective (just when you think you have maybe read it all). Beautifully written, the words transcend the actual events and readers will even be reminded of their own family stories. How did Ball manage to recreate her great-grandmother's life into such a fantastic read? I do not know, but I am glad she did. Breathtaking! This will tug at my heart a long time. Do not miss this book!

Reviews may be found on Amazon, Goodreads, other online sites, and below.

'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?'
~ Ramona Koval

'Magdalena Ball’s powerful re-imagining of her great-grandmother’s life, from crossing the ocean in steerage, alone, at the age of fourteen, to the hardships of immigrant life in New York, is a vivid, lyrical portrayal of a woman that is as much an act of love as it is the preservation of a life, with its lessons of quiet courage in the face of crushing despair.' ~ Charles Rammelkamp

'The importance of remembering is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith and in this account of the author’s Jewish great-grandmother as she navigates her life of exile, each scene is both clear eyed and evocative, poetic and down to earth, empathetic and far reaching.  A marvellous, nourishing book of resilience.' ~Judy Johnson

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author, a veteran educator and also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing