The slaughterman's daughter / Yaniv Iczkovits ; translated from the Hebrew by Orr Scharf.
"An enthralling, picaresque tale of two Jewish sisters in late nineteenth-century Russia, filled with "boundless imagination, wit, and panache" (David Grossman), and enough intrigue and misadventure to stupefy the Cohen brothers. With her reputation as a vilde chaya, a wild beast, Fanny Keismann isn't like the other women in her shtetl-certainly not her obedient and anxiety-ridden sister, Mende, whose "philosopher" of a husband, Zvi-Meir, has run off to Minsk, abandoning her and their two children in a small village in Russia's Pale of Settlement. As a young girl, Fanny felt an inexorable pull toward the profession of her father, Grodno's ritual slaughterer, who reluctantly took her under his wing and trained her to be a master shochet-incredibly skilled with a knife. It's a knife that Fanny keeps tied to her right leg even now, as a married woman, cheese farmer, and mother of five, long after she's given up that unsuitable profession. Horrified by her brother-in-law's actions and heedless of the dangers facing a Jewish woman travelling alone in Czarist Russia, Fanny decides that enough is enough and sets off to track down Zvi-Meir and bring him home-with the help of the mute and mysterious ferryman, Zizek Breshov, an ex-soldier with his own sensational past. In irresistible prose, Israeli novelist Yaniv Iczkovits spins a family drama into a far-reaching comedy of errors that soon pits the Czar's army against the Russian secret police and threatens the foundations of the Russian Empire. The Slaughterman's Daughter is a rollicking and unforgettable work of fiction"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780805243659 (hardcover)
- ISBN: 0805243658 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 515 pages : map, illustrations ; 25 cm
- Edition: First United States edition.
- Publisher: New York : Schocken Books, [2021]
- Copyright: ©2020
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Sisters > Fiction. Abandoned wives > Fiction. Jewish women > Russia > Fiction. Jewish families > Russia > Fiction. Russia > History > 1801-1917 > Fiction. |
Genre: | Historical fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kenton County.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Covington Branch | ICZKO Y (Text) | 33126024092326 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"An enthralling, picaresque tale of two Jewish sisters in late nineteenth-century Russia, filled with "boundless imagination, wit, and panache" (David Grossman), and enough intrigue and misadventure to stupefy the Cohen brothers. With her reputation as avilde chaya, a wild beast, Fanny Keismann isn't like the other women in her shtetl-certainly not her obedient and anxiety-ridden sister, Mende, whose "philosopher" of a husband, Zvi-Meir, has run off to Minsk, abandoning her and their two children in a small village in Russia's Pale of Settlement. As a young girl, Fanny felt an inexorable pull toward the profession of her father, Grodno's ritual slaughterer, who reluctantly took her under his wing and trained her to be a master shochet-incredibly skilledwith a knife. It's a knife that Fanny keeps tied to her right leg even now, as a married woman, cheese farmer, and mother of five, long after she's given up that unsuitable profession. Horrified by her brother-in-law's actions and heedless of the dangersfacing a Jewish woman travelling alone in Czarist Russia, Fanny decides that enough is enough and sets off to track down Zvi-Meir and bring him home-with the help of the mute and mysterious ferryman, Zizek Breshov, an ex-soldier with his own sensational past. In irresistible prose, Israeli novelist Yaniv Iczkovits spins a family drama into a far-reaching comedy of errors that soon pits the Czar's army against the Russian secret police and threatens the foundations of the Russian Empire. The Slaughterman's Daughter is a rollicking and unforgettable work of fiction"-- - Baker & Taylor
Fable-inspired stories within stories, told from the nuanced perspectives of interrelated characters, follow the experiences of a Jewish woman in late-19th-century Russia, who uses her secret talents as a ritual slaughterer to retrieve a faithless brother-in-law. Illustrations. - Random House, Inc.
"If the Coen brothers ever ventured beyond the United States for their films, they would find ample material in this novel."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Occasionally a book comes along so fresh, strange, and original that it seems peerless, utterly unprecedented. This is one of those books."
âKirkus Reviews (starred review)
**Winner of the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize**
**Finalist for the 2021 National Jewish Book Awards, "Book Club Award"**
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An irresistible, picaresque tale of two Jewish sisters in late-nineteenth-century Russia, The Slaughtermanâs Daughter is filled with âboundless imagination and a vibrant styleâ (David Grossman).
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With her reputation as a vilde chaya (wild animal), Fanny Keismann isnât like the other women in her shtetl in the Pale of Settlementâcertainly not her obedient and anxiety-ridden sister, Mende, whose âphilosopherâ of a husband, Zvi-Meir, has run off to Minsk, abandoning her and their two children.
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As a young girl, Fanny felt an inexorable pull toward her fatherâs profession of ritual slaughterer and, under his reluctant guidance, became a master with a knife. And though she long ago gave up that unsuitable professionâsheâs now the wife of a cheesemaker and a mother of fiveâFanny still keeps the knife tied to her right leg. Which might come in handy when, heedless of the dangers facing a Jewish woman traveling alone in czarist Russia, she sets off to track down Zvi-Meir and bring him home, with the help of the mute and mysterious ferryman Zizek Breshov, an ex-soldier with his own sensational past.
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Yaniv Iczkovits spins a family drama into a far-reaching comedy of errors that will pit the czarâs army against the Russian secret police and threaten the very foundations of the Russian Empire. The Slaughtermanâs Daughter is a rollicking and unforgettable work of fiction.