Swimming to Jerusalem: A Novel

by Seth Bornstein

Swimming to Jerusalem is the story of Bram Goodman; his family, friends, colleagues, and demons.

Born in Paris, he spent his childhood in Israel and moved to Brooklyn as a teenager. When he flunks out of college, Bram returns to Israel in an effort to find a sense of purpose. He enlists in the Army with Yoni, his cousin and best friend. Their tour of duty is uneventful until, nearing the end of their service, they find themselves on the Lebanon frontier confronting the horrors of war. After his discharge, an aimless and disillusioned Bram makes his way to Paris. Busking on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, he meets Liz and follows her back to New York.

Decades later, with a family and career, Bram uses his irreverent personality and sharp humor to mask the tragic events of his youth. When Theo, his youngest child, seeks to learn about his heritage, Bram begins to confront the past that he has attempted to keep at bay. It is a journey that will take him back, both emotionally and physically, to a place he thought he could leave behind.

482 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 29, 2023

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read any time of year. The novel is a funny, irreverent look at life and family. The characters are warmly drawn, and the witty, snappy dialogue is a joy to read. The book closely scrutinizes the family ties that bind us together and, sometimes, alienate us. The author skillfully weaves together the past and the present, vividly demonstrating Faulkner’s point that “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal premiere novel from author Seth Bornstein about Bram Goodman, his family and friends and his journey to overcome the grief and guilt that plague him since the death of his best friend and cousin, Yoni. His journey is filled with humor, sadness and redemption. I thoroughly enjoyed this marvelous story and the characters within.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling summer read.

[Eileen Reich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humor and heart in spades

Seth Bornstein has written a deeply realized portrait of Bram, a soul in search of peace and understanding of his very complicated and blessed life. The book has moments of humor, frankness and honesty that hit home - as if the author opened the lid of Bram’s head and his uncensored, sarcastic thoughts tumbled out on the page. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and was reluctant to bid Bram and the many other well-drawn characters goodbye.

[Kerry Bornstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic

[Rina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bram Goodman, our protagonist, was born in Paris, spent some of his childhood in Israel and then moved to Brooklyn as a teenager. When he flunks out of college he heads back to Israel to find a sense of purpose. He enlists in the Israel Defense League, with his cousin Yoni. They do their tour and toward the end, find themselves on the Lebanon frontier confronting the horrors of war. After his
discharge, aimless and disillusioned, Bram makes his way to Paris. He's busking on a major street and meets Liz and follows her back to NY.
Decades later, with a family and a career, he uses his irreverent personality and sharp humor to mask the tragic events of his youth. When Theo, his youngest, seeks to learn about his heritage, Bram begins to confront the past that he has attempted to keep at bay. It is a journey that will take him back, both emotionally and physically, to a place he thought he could leave behind.
This description is mostly from the back of the book. It does encapsulate the story but the story is
actually way more. Read it and tell me it's not!

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely and moving book. Bram’s capacity for love — and anger - are immense and exquisitely depicted. After plenty of bad luck, his life with Liz and the goodness of her family, seem like real blessings. It’s interesting to see that Bram’s relationship with his uncle, tender and loving, is so different from how is cousin describes his relationship with his father. If both are true, Bernstein has illuminated a sad fact of families — expectations that children live as their parents want them to can be terribly destructive.

Bram’s devotion to swimming must have meaning. Is it related to control? You are the only one who can keep youself from drowning? Or is it a metaphor for redemption. Swimming allows Bram to wash away the toxic experiences of his life - over and over again?

[Ellen Wolintz-Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble keeping track of some of the characters. Wrong terms were used at times - like saying Yizkor, when Kaddish was probably supposed to be the term. And at one point they were at the Museum, then Central Park - and then Grand Amy Plaza - but that is in Brooklyn - but maybe I read it wrong. It is not realistic if Lior was observant that the children would have been given honors and a bar mitzvah - since their mother was not Jewish. Interesting that chapters had names based on what happened in the chapter - often a direct quote. I wonder if he wrote the chapters all separately and then figured out the order. The scene of Bram’s last night with Yonatan brought me to tears. The story about Yonatan was my favorite.

[Gerald Bernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book’s evolution is quite slow but the ending at least has some mesning to it.
The main protagonist Bram is an interesting character with many interesting idiosyncrasies and reactions and ways of expressing himself.
Certainly Brams father who is mostly dealt with through the words of Bram but not directly through his own words is a very interesting Duffy Kravitz.
Take it or leave it novel.

[Hal Rosenbluth]

Terrific Book

You become immersed right away into the life of Bram Goodman and ride his emotional waves bringing smiles, laughter, sadness, and tears. You feel great being part of his family.. even for only the time it takes to read Swimming to Jerusalem. It has been a while since I felt so good about a book I read.

[Sheila S · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Swimming to Jerusalem” is a wonderful read; I couldn’t put it down. The characters are well-developed and so relatable. There were times I laughed out loud and parts where my tears flowed. If you enjoy journeys - both personal growth and geographical – this book is a must.

[Kkelber · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully written book

I loved this book. The relationships and character development was outstanding. I wanted to be a character in Bram’s home. My only criticism is that it was too long. It needed ,some more editing.. a little too much repetition.

[Rita Bookreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, very worthwhile read, especially since Jerusalem is landlocked so the title has some subtle futility in it. ….

[Lori Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swimming to Jerusalem was a thought-provoking and entertaining book. I thoroughly enjoyed Bram - the main character - for his sarcastic humor, irreverence, and self proclaimed 'devout heretic' status. The book takes us through decades of Bram's unresolved grief as well as his major life accomplishments. It teaches us about integration of loss in very positive ways. I laughed and I cried.