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Sabbath Wine
“My name’s Malka Hirsch,” the girl said. “I’m nine.”
“I’m David Richards,” the boy said. “I’m almost thirteen.... and I am dead.”
“I’m David Richards,” the boy said. “I’m almost thirteen.... and I am dead.”
- GenresHistorical Fiction
30 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2016
15 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Krasnoff
41 books22 followersBarbara Krasnoff has published short stories in Crossed Genres, Electric Velocipede, Space and Time, Apex Magazine, Doorways, Escape Velocity, Sybil's Garage, Behind the Wainscot, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Amazing, Weird Tales, and Descant. She's contributed to the anthologies Clockwork Phoenix 2, Such A Pretty Face: Tales of Power & Abundance, and Memories and Visions: Women's Fantasy and Science Fiction. She also published the nonfiction Robots: Reel to Real, which was supposed to head up a young adult series of books called How It Works -- but the publisher was eaten by a larger publisher.
When Barbara isn't making a living as Features & Reviews Editor for Computerworld.com, she's hanging out with the NYC writers group Tabula Rasa or in Brooklyn, NY with her partner Jim Freund.
When Barbara isn't making a living as Features & Reviews Editor for Computerworld.com, she's hanging out with the NYC writers group Tabula Rasa or in Brooklyn, NY with her partner Jim Freund.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 22, 2017
This bittersweet fantasy story, free to read online here at Mythic Delirium, is one of the current crop of Nebula award nominees in the short story category. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
On the steps of a Brooklyn brownstone in the early 1920s, nine year old Malka, a Jewish girl, and twelve year old David, a black southern Baptist boy, get acquainted. She’s surprised that he wants to spend time talking with a younger girl but, as he informs her, he’s actually dead, so that makes a difference. They chat about their families, and Malka ends up inviting David to come to her home that Saturday for a Jewish Sabbath dinner.
Malka’s father Abe, who is not at all religiously observant (he had once almost been sent to Siberia “for writing articles linking religion to the consistent poverty of the masses"), is reluctant, but he loves his daughter, and Malka wheedles him into agreeing. The only problem is obtaining the kosher wine for the dinner, with Prohibition in effect. Abe tries his Jewish contacts first, without success, and ends up meeting David’s father, a small-time bootlegger, where they arrange the sale of the wine and their fateful dinner.
I was moved and impressed by “Sabbath Wine.” The Prohibition-era Brooklyn setting is evocatively described, as is Abe’s past history as a radical. The magical realism element, a dead child’s spirit staying with its parent, seen and heard by only a very few people, dovetails with the religious and racial prejudices and conflicts that both families have experienced, and there’s a nicely handled twist that surprised me (though in retrospect, it probably shouldn’t have). It’s a quietly poignant tale, with a small note of grace in the meeting of these two fathers.
On the steps of a Brooklyn brownstone in the early 1920s, nine year old Malka, a Jewish girl, and twelve year old David, a black southern Baptist boy, get acquainted. She’s surprised that he wants to spend time talking with a younger girl but, as he informs her, he’s actually dead, so that makes a difference. They chat about their families, and Malka ends up inviting David to come to her home that Saturday for a Jewish Sabbath dinner.
Malka’s father Abe, who is not at all religiously observant (he had once almost been sent to Siberia “for writing articles linking religion to the consistent poverty of the masses"), is reluctant, but he loves his daughter, and Malka wheedles him into agreeing. The only problem is obtaining the kosher wine for the dinner, with Prohibition in effect. Abe tries his Jewish contacts first, without success, and ends up meeting David’s father, a small-time bootlegger, where they arrange the sale of the wine and their fateful dinner.
I was moved and impressed by “Sabbath Wine.” The Prohibition-era Brooklyn setting is evocatively described, as is Abe’s past history as a radical. The magical realism element, a dead child’s spirit staying with its parent, seen and heard by only a very few people, dovetails with the religious and racial prejudices and conflicts that both families have experienced, and there’s a nicely handled twist that surprised me (though in retrospect, it probably shouldn’t have). It’s a quietly poignant tale, with a small note of grace in the meeting of these two fathers.
September 6, 2017
I inform the minor bad thing first: The start is rather slow, need some time to build the momentum. The second half of the story is a lovely gem with highly emotional ending.
For a short story, it has pretty rich in details in cultures. It started as two children met and became friends, but then the story would growing, not only focusing to the children but also to their fathers.
For a short story, it has pretty rich in details in cultures. It started as two children met and became friends, but then the story would growing, not only focusing to the children but also to their fathers.
June 20, 2017
I was kind of bored with this one from about the middle until the very end. Then it punched me in the face.
November 2, 2018
This short story was nominated for Nebula in 2017.
“My name’s Malka Hirsch,” the girl said. “I’m nine.”
“I’m David Richards,” the boy said. “I’m almost thirteen.... and I am dead.”
Young Jewish girl meets not much older black boy in the first year of the Prohibition. She invites him (and his father) to the Sabbath dinner. Her father, socialist and atheist wants to please her but where to get a kosher wine?
A poignant story of fathers and their kind and about our world, which can be sometimes too cruel.
“My name’s Malka Hirsch,” the girl said. “I’m nine.”
“I’m David Richards,” the boy said. “I’m almost thirteen.... and I am dead.”
Young Jewish girl meets not much older black boy in the first year of the Prohibition. She invites him (and his father) to the Sabbath dinner. Her father, socialist and atheist wants to please her but where to get a kosher wine?
A poignant story of fathers and their kind and about our world, which can be sometimes too cruel.
May 27, 2017
Perfect little short story. A tease here, a tug on the heart strings there, a dash of nostalgia, a wince of pain, fun ending. Loved it.
March 18, 2017
A beautiful short story, and Nebula award nominee, set in the America during prohibitionist, adroitly speaking about xenophobia, and the violence it triggers.
This is the story of Malka, the young daughter of a Jewish man, deeply involved in the labor movement, and of David, the son of a store owner, illegally selling alcohol during prohibitionist. David says he is dead, but Malka dismiss the claim as baseless: everybody knows that you cannot touch ghosts, and she has no trouble pinching David.
The encounter of the two young children, and the desire of Malka to introduce David to the customs of her ancestors, will bring the two men together.
This is the story of Malka, the young daughter of a Jewish man, deeply involved in the labor movement, and of David, the son of a store owner, illegally selling alcohol during prohibitionist. David says he is dead, but Malka dismiss the claim as baseless: everybody knows that you cannot touch ghosts, and she has no trouble pinching David.
The encounter of the two young children, and the desire of Malka to introduce David to the customs of her ancestors, will bring the two men together.
December 30, 2017
A little pedestrian, if interesting, to begin with, but rolled along to a fairly satisfying conclusion.
January 10, 2019
I read this story as part of the 2018 Nebula Awards showcase. My expectation was to read some novel science-fiction or fantasy ideas. This story entirely fails at that task. It's unfortunate that it was chosen to be in the anthology because it adds nothing of interest to the genre. If you are reading this story because you enjoy science-fiction or fantasy stories, you will likely be disappointed. The author is not at fault. The Nebula Awards have done her, and readers a disservice by shoe-horning her story into this Anthology.
February 4, 2019
This is a pretty good story. In the beginning, I remember thinking that it's decent, but nowhere near good enough to justify its position as a Nebula Award finalist. At one point, a character is reading a newspaper, and a bit further down, someone interrupts him, and the narrative says he doesn't take his eyes off his book. That's a simple error, easily caught by a proofread.
But like all good short stories, there's a twist at the end. And, while I think a lot of the book up to that point had been somewhat predictable, that twist made all the difference for me. Wow, what an ending!
But like all good short stories, there's a twist at the end. And, while I think a lot of the book up to that point had been somewhat predictable, that twist made all the difference for me. Wow, what an ending!
October 20, 2018
Very sweet. Even as a short story it is almost too long.
April 6, 2017
Mule kick to the chest. Devastatingly sad and lovely. If I were a voting member, this one would be my pick, in a lineup of sensationally good stories. <3
#nebulanominee
Read online here.
#nebulanominee
Read online here.
April 13, 2017
Nebula finalist. Rubbish! Has Barbara Krasnoff not seen The Sixth Sense? And why was this crap nominated? Because it's about Jews, written by a Jew, and its not PC to ignore that? Oh, how i long for a future governed by MERIT. It feels further away with every passing year.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews