JEL Book Club: "Kantika" by Elizabeth Graver

In May, we will be discussing Kantika by Elizabeth Graver, winner of the 2024 Mass Book Award for fiction, in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month.

From the publisher:
"A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, 'Kantika' - 'song' in Ladino - follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way - a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge - her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old. Exploring identity, place and exile, 'Kantika' also reveals how the female body - in work, art and love - serves as a site of both suffering and joy. A haunting, inspiring meditation on the tenacity of women, this lush, lyrical novel from Elizabeth Graver celebrates the insistence on seizing beauty and grabbing hold of one’s one and only life."

You may also like the following events from Jacob Edwards Library:

• This month, 22nd May, 10:30 pm, "Why Local Food Matters" in Southbridge, Massachusetts
• This month, 29th May, 10:30 pm, Michelle Willson Band in Southbridge, Massachusetts

Also check out other Health & Wellness events in Southbridge, Arts events in Southbridge.