Florence Reiss Kraut crafts compelling, multi-generational family dramas, informed by a career spent understanding human connection and a childhood steeped in the warmth of a large family. Her work intimately explores the enduring bonds and profound narratives that unfold across generations, delving into the complexities of life, love, and identity. Kraut's fiction offers readers a rich tapestry of shared experiences, where the echoes of the past shape the present. Her insightful prose captures the essence of familial relationships and the universal search for meaning.
Seeking refuge from harm for both themselves and their progeny, Ida and her daughter Bessie flee a pogrom in Ukraine for America-but once there, family secrets, betrayals, and mistakes made in the name of love undermine the lives of their children and grandchildren. Eventually, they all must find the courage to forgive and take comfort in the bonds of family.
Family, romance and gangsters support and thwart Golda, Ben, and Morty from achieving their dreams: Golda gives up independence to marry her widowed brother-in-law, Ben, and care for baby Morty; later, Ben's business mistakes cause financial disaster, forcing Morty to bargain with gangsters and sacrifice his love and career-and perhaps the ability to ever go home again-to save his father.