The vanished way of life of Eastern European Jews in the early part
of the twentieth century is the subject of this extraordinary novel. All
the strata of this complex society were populated by powerfully
individual personalities, and the whole community pulsated with life and
vitality. The affairs of the patriarchal Meshulam Moskat and the
unworldly Asa Heshel Bannet provide the center of the book, but its real focus is the civilization that was destroyed forever in the gas chambers of the Second World War.
 Read less