Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English: A Novel - Softcover

Solomons, Natasha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316077593 ISBN 13: 9780316077590

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2011

Synopsis

In her tender, sweetly comic debut, Natasha Solomons tells the captivating love story of a Jewish immigrant couple making a new life--and their wildest dreams--come true in WWII-era England.
At the outset of World War II, Jewish refugees Jack Rosenblum, his wife Sadie, and their baby daughter escape Berlin, bound for London. They are greeted with a pamphlet instructing immigrants how to act like "the English." Jack acquires Savile Row suits and a Jaguar. He buys his marmalade from Fortnum & Mason and learns to list the entire British monarchy back to 913 A.D. He never speaks German, apart from the occasional curse.
But the one key item that would make him feel fully British-membership in a golf club-remains elusive. In post-war England, no golf club will admit a Rosenblum. Jack hatches a wild idea: he'll build his own.
It's an obsession Sadie does not share, particularly when Jack relocates them to a thatched roof cottage in Dorset to embark on his project. She doesn't want to forget who they are or where they come from. She wants to bake the cakes she used to serve to friends in the old country and reminisce. Now she's stuck in an inhospitable landscape filled with unwelcoming people, watching their bank account shrink as Jack pursues his quixotic dream.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

At the start of World War II, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum flee Berlin for London with their baby daughter, Elizabeth. Upon arrival, Jack receives a pamphlet from the German Jewish Aid Committee on how to act like a proper Englishman. He follows it to the letter - Saville Row suits, the BBC, trips to Covent Garden, a Jaguar—and it works like a charm. The Rosenblums settle into a prosperous new life. Just one item on the list eludes him: An Englishman must be a member of a golf course. No golf course in England at the time will admit a Jew. But the list is now the guiding document in Jack's life, and he must check off the final item. So he decides to build his own golf club in the Dorset countryside. For the second time, Sadie leaves a home she loves. And despite ancient customs, British snobbery, mythical beasts, and a shrinking bank account, they triumph once again.

About the Author:

Natasha Solomons is a screenwriter who lives in Dorset, England. Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English is her first novel and was inspired in part by her childhood spent at the cottage her own grandparents bought with restitution money from Germany. The recipes in the novel are from her grandmother's ancient cookbook. Solomons' most recent novel is the New York Times bestseller The House at Tyneford.

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0316077593
• ISBN 13: 9780316077590
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 357