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
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