The Landsmen

by Peter Martin

Set in a village in nineteenth-century Russia, The Landsmen recreates as no other novel ever has a vital, vibrant segment of the Jewish past.

Nine voices tell is enthralling story --- each voice vividly individual, yet all linked inextricably by Jewish identity, Jewish destiny. Beauty and nobility blend with lust and brutality, strength and joy; hardship and suffering intermingle, in the unrolling panorama of a people clinging to ancient traditions while dreaming of escape to the new world, and seeking to taste the rich sap of life even as they struggle for survival.

At a time when Roots has rekindled our sensitivity to the marvel and meaning of the past, the republication of The Landsmen is a cause for celebration.

Genres: Fiction

413 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

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Reviews

[David Herz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary portrait of the lives of shtetl Jews, many can thusly imagine what their great great grandparents went through. Says a lot about the power of the unenlightened autocrat and the origins and durability of faith.