As Close to Us as Breathing

A truly rewarding Jewish family saga, reaching from 1948 to present day. Three sisters - Ava, Vivie, and Bec - find their way through minefields of traditional Jewish wife-life and try to keep their children on track. Their inherited summer home on "Bagel Beach" on the Long Island Sound in Woodmont, CT serves as the relief valve for the strict Sabbath standards set by their husbands. The novel captures the segregated lives along the shore perfectly, with each ethic group savoring their own enclave. The only person crossing the boundaries is Sal, the Good Humor Man, who plays a critical role in the summer that changed everything.

The portrayals of the children, caught up in the rituals of their parents but yearning to push into new show more territories, are most vivid and the multiple points of view enrich the story beautifully. Those readers unfamiliar with Jewish rituals will feel like they are entering new turf, and Jewish readers will feel like they have the chance to connect with their recent ancestors. Beautifully executed, like lean corned beef, bursting with flavor with no fat. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to discussing it at bookclub. The development of characters, relationships, and settings made it easy for me as the reader to envision all that was happening. I was particularly taken with the relationship between Molly (the narrator) and her Aunt Bec, who early in the book advises Molly "...you have to be yourself. You have to. Or something in you dies." If you enjoy family sagas, this is one that will suck you in early on and keep you fully engaged until the last page...

This is a multi-generational novel about a Jewish family and a how a tragedy affects all of their lives through the years. The novel begins in 1948 as the women and children of the family go to their cottage at the beach in Connecticut for the summer - their husbands only come up on weekends. The family consists of three sisters and their children. The reader is told very early on that a tragedy occurs that summer that affects everyone but it isn't until very late in the book that the tragedy is totally explained. The book switches back into history when the sisters were young and then into modern day when the children are grown up and we see how everyone dealt with the tragedy that happened that summer. I had a little trouble following show more all of the time changes and different stories but once I finished the book and saw the entire story and it all made sense, I appreciated the story and what the author was trying to do. I enjoyed the book and would read this author again. show less

In some ways the Jewish family at the centre of this novel are almost as wacky as the Mormon family at the centre of the previous book I read. In both cases, there is a heavy burden (my word) of religious rules and practices imposed on the family. Outsiders are shunned and even almost dehumanised. Of course, the setting of this story just after WW2 would surely also have given Jewish people a particularly strong sense of needing to stick together to ensure their own survival. There's another theme interwovan with this - the story of feeling reponsible for others in the family and the way it particularly impacts on the siblings of a boy who dies in an accident. Further, there are issues of sexual identity and coming of age - again, being show more 1948, there are very different perspectives than would be expected today. I'm more interested in grief, death and personal relationships than Jewish religious experience, but Elizabeth Poliner writes in such a way that I found myself being somewhat sympathetic to the narrator's (& author's) religious perspective. show less

There is no shortage of books focused on Jewish family life, but Elizabeth Poliner’s stands apart as in instant classic according to a review by the Jewish Book Council. It is a multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer. The novel examines an extended family and its world over three generations. Its point of focus is the summer of 1948, immediately following the state of Israel’s birth and, for the Leibritsky family, the trauma of its youngest member’s accidental death. The story takes place during the family’s summer vacation at a place they call Bagel Beach on the Connecticut shore. The men enjoy the beach cottage over weekends, the women live there through the summer months. show more Sisters are estranged, love is frustrated by duty, marriages fail, and a boy dies for no reason. Poliner makes us explore how much do you owe your parents, your people, your creator, yourself? When have you paid enough? “Poliner handles the texture of Jewish family life with brilliance, authenticity, and a touch of wistfulness.” show less

Told by Molly, as she looks back on her life as a member of a large extended Jewish family. The central event of their lives is the accidental death of her younger brother Davey, which we learn on the very first page. Then she takes us back to learn about and understand Molly's mother, and her mother's sisters, as well as a cast of cousins and friends. But the story keeps circling back to the death, and how it affected various family members, at the time, and for years afterward. Well written with well-developed characters, this is a deep study of a family, their lives and loves, and well-meaning steps and mis-steps.

As Close to Us as Breathing is a masterpiece. The author, Elizabeth Poliner, uses her poetic skills to tell a gripping story about three Jewish sisters in the late 1940’s. The beautifully told mystery that involves a death that impacts each of the vividly detailed characters is a blistering read. The novel builds like a well-oiled classic machine with brilliant use of metaphors. As you swallow each sentence, you’ll be transported into a rich landscape that will devour your senses. You won’t want the book to end. This novel topples your wildest dreams as to what literature can do for your soul.