The Landsmen

Set in a village in nineteenth-century Russia, The Landsmenrecreates as no other novel ever has a vital, vibrant segment of the Jewish past.Nine voices tell is enthralling story --- each voice vividly individual, yet all linked inextricably by Jewish identity, Jewish destiny. Beauty and nobility blend with lust and brutality, strength and joy; hardship and suffering intermingle, in the unrolling panorama of a people clinging to ancient traditions while dreaming of escape to the new world, and seeking to taste the rich sap of life even as they struggle for survival.At a time when Rootshas rekindled our sensitivity to the marvel and meaning of the past, the republication ofThe Landsmenis a cause for celebration.