Synopsis
Meet the Rabinovitches: mischievous Yakov, bubbly Nomi, rebellious Miriam, solemn Shlomo, and seven more! Papa is a rabbi and their days are full of intriguing rituals and adventures. But the biggest adventure of all is when big sister Adina is told she is to be married at the age of fifteen - to someone she has never met.
Based on the author's real family, the Rabinovitches dance, laugh and cook their way through a life in 1920s Poland.
From the Author
I am proud and excited to introduce to you my latest book, The Family with Two Front Doors. This book has been twenty-five years in the making! It began in 1991 when I interviewed my grandmother about her childhood. Nana Nomi was the daughter of a rabbi. She had eight brothers and sisters and they had to rent two apartments to fit them all in. They lived in Lublin, Poland, in the 1920s, and when my grandmother talked about her childhood she gave me glimpses of an extraordinary world full of colour and ritual and happiness. She told me about Thursday afternoons when the front doors were thrown open and all the beggars of the neighbourhood were invited inside for a bite to eat, about her mischievous little brother who sneaked off to watch the blacksmith instead of learning his prayers, about making loaves of plaited bread for Friday nights, and about her older sister getting married - at the age of fifteen - to someone she had never met! I knew that one day I would have to write this story, but it was early in my writing career, and the task seemed too daunting. I put the notes in my 'ideas' drawer, and when my grandmother passed away in 2002 they were still there, buried under a growing pile of papers. It was not until 2011, sorting through that drawer, that I came across the interview again, and instantly, all the old fascination and excitement surged up. This time I was ready to write. However, more questions soon flooded in, and Nana was no longer around to answer them. I began a quest to find the missing pieces, never dreaming when I set out that it would take four years, and carry me fifteen thousand kilometres away to Lublin and Warsaw in Poland. But now the book is finished. And when the children who have read it describe how they've been enchanted by the characters and antics of my Nana's family, when they say they were thrilled to become a part of that amazing world, to learn that boys and girls with the mysterious title 'Jewish' are just normal people like themselves (though their customs may be different and fascinating), I know my efforts have been worth it. As you turn the pages of this book, I hope you too will grow to love the Family Rabinovitch, and enjoy the opportunity to step inside those two front doors... Please write a review and let me know what you think of it!
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