Rodinsky's Room . Granta Books, 2000. All families have someone who's a bit of an oddball, usually the one who gravitates to the shadows, content to watch the others. The year was 1969, a crazy time everywhere, a sense of urgency in the air. It seems Rachel's arrival offered little comfort to those around her.
Oddballs learn early to seek comfort where they can find it.
Rachel, a sensitive girl with artistic talent, found solace in the stories her grandfather would tell her. He had been one of thousands of Jewish refugees forced to flee the pogroms in Poland, and had arrived in the East End of London during the early 1930's. He opened a watchmaking shop, and tried to begin again, although the sounds and smells of his old home stayed with him always. Rachel liked listening to him remember. Rachel's parents had spent most of their lives remembering to forget.