History on a Personal Note: Stories
Belonging?in a relationship, a family, a community, or a culture?is an underlying theme in these 16 stories, nine of which were previously published. New Yorker Lorraine, close friend of the female narrator in the title story and two other tales that loosely frame the collection, loses her German lover and reverts to her Southern roots only to find that she no longer feels comfortable with them. Other themes include the celebration of female friendship, the impossibility of finding true love (except in "Courtship," a moving story inspired by the writer's own parents), and the exploration of Jewishness, notably in three remarkably succinct stories. In the most memorable of these, "Jewish But Not Really," a nonobserving Jewish child learns that she can never?no matter what?win the Easter egg hunt. Kirshenbaum (A Disturbance in One Place, LJ 3/15/94) uses her crisp prose and wry humor to illustrate home truths. For most collections.?Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.