Unterzakhn
Hardcover, 203 pages, Schocken, List Price: $24.95 | purchase
Book Summary
Growing up on the teeming streets of New York's Lower East Side in the early 20th century, Jewish immigrant twins Esther and Fanya experience radically different lives as a burlesque dancer in a brothel and a nurse for an obstetrician who performs illegal abortions.
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NPR stories about Unterzakhn
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When those summer storm clouds come rolling in, reach for Leela Corman's tale of two sisters in early-1900s New York, a story that reminds you that no matter how bad the forecast looks, it can't be worse than what these women have to endure. Unterzakhn (Yiddish for "underthings") is a bleak yet touching look at twins who take distinctly different roads in life, but can't prevent their paths from intersecting. Spanning decades, the plot traces Esther and Fanya's growth from early
Note: Book excerpts are provided by the publisher and may contain language some find offensive.
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