Promised Lands: New Jewish American Fiction on Longing and Belonging (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life & HBI Series on Jewish Women)
Starred Review. Rubin's anthology of previously unreleased work by rising and prominent Jewish American authors shows the multitudinous and often unexpected ways in which Jewish ideology shapes people's lives. In Binnie Kirshenbaum's "Lunatic," a woman watching the news report of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination recognizes a former crush in the crowd of radicals and recalls her failed attempt to seduce the odd, unfriendly boy. Edward Schwarzschild's "Midhusband" features a man infatuated with the midwife who assisted eight months earlier in the birth of his child. As the tale progresses, and the midwife returns his feelings, the narrator bases a decision to deceive his wife on the well-being of his infant son. Another child figures prominently in Lauren Grodstein's "Homewrecker," in which the narrator's dogged repetition of the formal term "my future husband" illuminates her own isolation as she finds herself caught between him, his striking ex, and their damaged son. Standouts from Elisa Albert, Aaron Hamburger, Lara Vapnyar, Dara Horn, and others round out this stunning compilation of talented storytellers who have all been shaped somehow by history and faith, or lack there of.