Sapphires

by Sara Dowse

Drawing on the Yiddish tradition of story-telling, the award-winning Sapphires is constructed of thirteen interlinked stories that tell of journeys in the lives of the descendants of Ruchel Kozminsky who left Russia in the 1890s—Miriam, Bernice, Janet, Alice and most centrally Evelyn, a Sydney-based television comedy writer. A haunting, evocative and often funny account of love, family and belonging.




Sapphires was first published in 1994 and won the ACT Book of the Year Award in 1995.




Sara Dowse is a critic, artist and award-winning author. Her novels include West Block (1993; 2020), Digging (1996) and, more recently, As the Lonely Fly (2017).

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Dorothy Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sapphires, which won the ACT Book of the Year Award in 1995, is a multi-layered and deeply satisfying book.
'Long ago my grandmother told me a story,' it begins. 'Like most grandmothers, she often told stories, but in other respects she seemed very different, not quite a proper grandmother.' Dowse explores this difference, and many other aspects of family heritage, through thirteen connected stories, in which the Yiddish traditions of storytelling shine alongside contemporary American and Australian themes.