Blitz: And Other Stories

by Esther Singer Kreitman, Dorothee Van Tendeloo (Translator)

Blitz and other stories is the first-ever English translation of the short story collection by Esther Kreitman, the elder sister of Isaac Bashevis Singer. This is a set of stories surrounding the two separate worlds of the shtetls of Poland and the war-ravaged Jewish community of London. The stories in Blitz are wry and biting vignettes of Jewish family and community life. Kreitman casts a compassionate and ascerbic eye on her characters. The stories reflect her deep sense of personal and social injustice.

Genres: Short Stories, Jewish

180 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Esther Singer Kreitman was a Yiddish novelist and short stories author. She was born in Poland but moved to Antwerp, Belgium, after her marriage to a diamond cutter. Their son, Morris Kreitman (later also known under his pen name as Maurice Carr) was born in Antwerp. Esther and her family fled to London at the outbreak of the first World War. She died in London in 1954.

Her first novel Der Szejdym Tanc was translated into English as Deborah / Dance of the demons. Her second novel, Brilyantn was translated as Diamonds.

Esther's two younger brothers, Israel Joshua Singer and Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, also became authors.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely and varied collection of short stories about Jewish characters, imbued with Krietman’s signature semiautobiographical detail.

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leggete Esther Singer Kreitman. Merita.

Ecco cosa dice di lei Marina Morpurgo, la sua traduttrice:
(...) Quella di Esther Hinde Kreitman Singer è la carriera letteraria di un salmone, costretto a nuotare controcorrente, sfinito, agonizzante, eppure sospinto inesorabilmente in avanti da una potentissima voce interiore.
Oggi, finalmente sappiamo quanto valeva Esther Hinde Kreitman, che però resta condannata a trovarsi una fascetta sui romanzi: “La sorella di Israel Joshua e Isaac Bashevis Singer”. Che ingiustizia. (...)
Fonte: VI PRESENTO ESTHER (FA SINGER, DI COGNOME) su http://www.cultweek.com/esther-singer/

[SaraB]

Cryptique et déprimant

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of short stories by the long-ignored sister of Isaac Bashevis Singer. Now we get the Yiddishkeit culture from a young woman's point of view...

[Sara'la · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the English translation.