Stella Suberman (1922–2017)

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! About a Russian-Jewish family who moves to a small town in the Southern US in 1920 to start a store. The author has a charming way of writing and portraying personalities. I also especially loved how she talked rather candidly about many things, both good and bad, but generally refrained from assigning morality. She portrays openly the difficulties of blacks and Jews in their town, but allows you to see the prejudices in her own family as well. It was a story show more full of life - the good, the bad, the ugly, but all told with an air of hope and love underneath it all. A great read that will leave you a lot to think about! show less

Let me be honest. I'm a fan of the books of Stella Suberman. Have been ever since I chanced upon her first memoir, THE JEW STORE, about her childhood in the 1920s and 30s as part of the only Jewish family in a small town in Tennessee. And it was, for the most part, a happy childhood, despite the odds against it in those years of rampant anti-Semitism, particularly in the South. Suberman's writing 'voice' is totally unique, a blend of erudite, well-informed and folksy, which, taken all show more together, is completely charmning. I loved that first book so much that I naturally had to read the next one, another memoir set in the years of WWII which once again charmed - and informed - me with its moving narrative of the early years of her marriage, and how she followed her flier husband from base to base during his training, and then dug in for the long hard wait for him after he'd been deployed overseas. It was called WHEN IT WAS OUR WAR, with the emphasis on "our," because she made it very clear that back then ALL of America made sacrifices and "went to war." Not just the military, as is so sadly the case today. Need I say I loved the second book too?

I've been waiting a few years now, but the third volume of her memoirs is finally here, with the recent publication of THE GI BILL BOYS. And it was well worth the wait. In that same warm and friendly voice, Suberman now tells the rest of her story, first recapping the Depression and War years, and then getting down to business in telling of the postwar years and that wonderful thing called the GI Bill, which gave new starts and professions to millions of young men who before the war had had no jobs and no prospects. Suberman's story is a skillful amalgamation of both personal and national history. There is much here about discrimination against Jews - and black people too - both before, during and after the war. The author admits her own youthful shortcomings in regard to racial bigotry, and how her new husband, from New York City, opened her eyes to such things.

Rationing, breadlines, the McCarthy years and more. THE GI BILL BOYS is in fact a kind of personalized history of the United States from the twenties into the sixties. It's also a book about the importance of family, nuclear and extended. But at the heart of the book is a love story, the story of Jack and Stella, the country girl and the city boy who are still together after more than seventy years; the story of the woman behind the man who slogged through the academic trenches to earn a Ph.D. on the GI Bill, and went on to teach at NC State, and later became a respected dean at Florida Atlantic University. The personal parts brought to mind similar stories from my own days as young husband and father in grad school - all those BYOB and potluck casserole parties. I am confident that Jack Suberman himself would be the first to tell you he couldn't have done it alone. (Me too, Jack.) This is simply a terrific story - educational, interesting, warm and funny. It's History, history that will keep you up late wanting to know what happened next. I loved it! Thanks, Stella. show less

Stella Suberman writes about what she knows best - her life. She did it successfully with her first memoir, The Jew Store (an EXCELLENT book), and she continues her story in When It Was Our War. She tells of how she met her future husband, Jack, in Florida, of their courtship and wartime marriage, and then of their ensuing separations and reunions as Jack is posted to various U.S. bases in the Air Corps. You can feel her uncertainty and loneliness as she moves from one base to another, show more waiting faithfully while her man is in training. She feels the first sting of prejudice at one base where a landlady makes no bones about her distaste for Jews, but she makes a few good friends that sustain her in these hard times, and later when Jack is posted overseas. There is a warmth and humanity in this homefront narrative that makes it special. Anyone who lived throught the long difficult days of WWII will relate, but you don't have to be over 70 to like this book. It is simply story-telling at its best. I feel like I know Jack and Stella, and am looking forward to Suberman's next book, which I understand continues their story. show less

This is not a book that I would ever have picked up on my own. In fact, I dreaded having to read it. At the risk of sounding racist (which I most assuredly am not), I was afraid of another sad book about the horrible trials that a minority group has to weather. Instead, I found a truly delightful memoir. Aaron Bronson (nee Avram Droskowitz) left Russia for America, married a nice Jewish girl in New York, then headed south to Nashville. Apparently, in 1920s America, the dry goods stores in show more small towns were usually owned by Jews and called "the Jew store." The family moves to a small Tennessee town (Suberman has changed the name of the town and its inhabitants) and opens "Bronson's Low-Priced Store."
I think what I liked best about the book was the combination of ups and downs experienced by the family. They were part of the community, and became an integral part of the town's life. Yes, there were challenges, and they aren't glossed over, but there is always the mindset that this is how things happened at that time and place. A very enjoyable read. show less