A Cobbler's Tale: A Novel - Softcover

Gordon, Neil Perry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1732667705 ISBN 13: 9781732667709

Publisher: Neil Perry Gordon, 2018

Synopsis

A Cobbler’s Tale is an adventure story about Pincus Potasznik, a second-generation Jewish cobbler, born in a small shtetl in the province of Galicia, part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1910, at the historic height of the massive Eastern European immigration wave to the New World, Pincus decides to leave behind his pregnant wife, and three small children, in order to seek a new life for his family in the burgeoning Lower East Side of Manhattan. On his traumatic voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on the SS Amerika steamship, Pincus meets Jakob Adler, a young man running from an accidental murder of a notorious crime boss in Warsaw. The story also explores the challenges of pregnant Clara Potasznik as she does her best to protect her family, while the bloodiest battles of World War I explode within miles of her family home, a small village called Krzywcza. Moshe, the young son of Pincus and Clara Potasznik, discovers his divine ability to foretell dire events, and to offer real comfort those in pain, taking the reader into the wisdom and mystery surrounding the ancient Jewish mysticism, known as Kabbalah. A Cobbler’s Tale is a story of a family’s survival against tremendous odds.

About this title

About the Author

Neil Perry Gordon achieved his goal of an author of historical fiction with his first novel - A Cobbler's Tale, published in the fall of 2018. With dozens of reviews praising his writing style, he released his second novel - Moon Flower the following year. 

His creative methods and inspiration has been described as organic, meaning that he works with a general premise for his characters and plot, without a formal, detailed outline. This encourages his writing to offer surprising twists and unexpected outcomes, which readers have celebrated. 

These two novels also have the attributes of being driven by an equal balance between character development and action scenes, which moves the stories along at a page-turning pace. 

Due for release in the summer of 2019, is Neil's sequel to A Cobbler's Tale. The Righteous One is a spiritual adventure story of Moshe the Cobbler, a gentle sixty-year old tzaddik who is called upon to awaken his divine connection to the Almighty in order to destroy the gangster and rasha - Solomon Blass who invokes Kabbalah's dark side to wield his nefarious powers. 

Moshe learns that the final battle must take place in the dream world where the rasha moves about freely, but where the tzaddik must first receive training from ancient mystical forces in order to eliminate the evil force. 

The author has attributed his love for the creative process from his education from his formative years spent learning to learn at the Green Meadow Waldorf School. 

From the Back Cover

Mysticism, adventure, struggle and a family going beyond their limits to survive -- these are the subjects readers can expect while reading Neil Perry Gordon's debut historical fiction release, "A Cobbler's Tale."

This is the story of a young Jewish immigrant, Pincus Potasznik, a cobbler who leaves his pregnant wife Clara and children behind in Eastern Europe's Galicia region in search of a better life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Complete with fast-paced storylines, "A Cobbler's Tale" immediately engages the reader on a wild ride as it begins with Pincus' treacherous ride on the SS Amerika through the violent seas of the Atlantic. On the ship Pincus makes the acquaintance of hooligan Jakob Adler, a risk-taker who becomes Pincus' partner-in-crime, and changes the immigrant's story forever.

Attempting to make a life for himself in the U.S. and later resettle his family, Pincus is unaware of the threats and adversity Clara and his children are facing back in their shtetl during World War I. As "A Cobbler's Tale" weaves together two distinct stories of struggle from Clara to Pincus, the reader can enjoy dual, yet connected plot lines. Relatable to the present-day immigration crisis of separated families escaping persecution for a better life, Gordon brilliantly exposes struggles any immigrant would face immersing into a new culture and country.

Moshe Potasznik, Pincus and Clara's oldest son, adds an element of Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mysticism around the ability to foretell dire events and to bring peace to those suffering. As the story is loosely based on true events, Moshe is Gordon's grandfather.

From the Inside Flap

The particular strengths of each character revolve around strong archetypical qualities. Pincus, for instance, realized his personal ambitions put his family at risk, and therefore needed to save them from the ravages of war. Clara displayed incredible strength and fortitude, made evident by her willingness to do anything to protect her children. Moshe was a spiritual figure who provided divine inspiration to those in need. Jakob's loyalty to Pincus was unmatched, his energy unequaled, and was the impetus of the story's fast pace.

Edition details

• Publisher: Neil Perry Gordon
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1732667705
• ISBN 13: 9781732667709
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 334