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It's never been more difficult to get a novel published, according to writers who have achieved success, but find today's market impossible to crack. The turmoil is dizzying in this always fragile industry, fueled by conglomerates without a track record in publishing taking over venerable New York publishing houses.
I would recommend tossing hats into the air because of the first effort of Ruhama Veltfort. Her initial entrance into the book wars is an accomplished, gracefully written, and utterly fascinating novel that deserves a wide audience. That will be tough, but The Promised Land (Milkweed Editions, $23.95) is a worthwhile debut for Ms. Veltfort, a published poet making her first step into the precarious field of fiction. At 54, Veltfort is no apple-cheeked youngster. She comes from distinguished stock, her grandfather having been the distinguished psychoanalyst Otto Rank. The Promised Land benefits from the author's careful study of Judaism. The book deals with a young Jewish couple who arrive in the United States from their native Poland at the beginning of the fabled California gold rush during the 1840s. The early sections of the novel are a wonderful depiction of the stark lives that were the ordinary existence for Jews in the Europe of that time. The Promised Land focuses on two compelling characters: Yitzhak, the headstrong son of a powerful orthodox rabbi, and his wife Chana. In a brilliant stroke, the author tells their story in alternating chapters, one in the third person for the determined Yitzhak, while his wife's reports come in sensible first-person accounts. Yitzhak and Chana make their journey amid obstacles that would defeat any couple with less determination and sense of purpose. Their lives are composed of disappointments sprinkled with achievements that eventually take them ever closer to their desired destination of California. Although the events depicted are sometimes disheartening, the reader will follow these struggles with a sense of profound satisfaction at the different but admirable personalities so effectively delineated by the author. Veltfort pays close attention to these characters and shows how their religious beliefs make them ready to combat problems that would defeat less formidable individuals. The Promised Land approaches brilliance in its captivating journey during a special time in American history.
The copyright of the article Three New Titles Impressive in Contemporary Fiction is owned by Robert Powers. Permission to republish Three New Titles Impressive in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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