Salome of the Tenements

by Anzia Yezierska

The story of a young, aspiring Jewish woman from the ghetto who will do anything to get her man in this case an upper-class WASP. When she discovers he is not really what she wanted, she will do anything to get away. Based on the real-life story of the Jewish immigrant activist Rose Pastor's fairytale romance with the millionaire socialist Graham Stokes, the novel also reflects Yezierska's own doomed romance with the famous educator John Dewey. Passionate and engagingly sardonic, it criticizes the concept of the American "Melting Pot" in the language of the Lower East Side and exposes the hypocrisy of the "good works" of the privileged class and their so-called dedication to the poor. Gay Wilentz's introduction discusses Anzia Yezierska's life and work.
 

Genres: Fiction, Jewish, Classics, Read For School, Historical Fiction, Adult, Grad School

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

Anzia Yezierska was a Jewish-American novelist born in Mały Płock, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. She emigrated as a child with her parents to the United States and lived in the immigrant neighborhood of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Reviews

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sonya is a poor Russian-Jewish immigrant; John Manning is the upper-crust WASP. This is their love story, of sorts, based on the question: How did these two even get together? Turns out the answer is Manning is in the business of helping the poor, and Sonya... well, Sonya is rather manipulative. She is, after all, the Salome of the tenements. As a modern woman, this isn't an easy book to read at times. The Radical Novel Reconsidered publication made me think that Sonya would be a real bad-ass, a force to be reckoned with based on her strength and conviction.

In reality, Sonya was pretty hard to stomach. She said things like, "A woman should be youth and fire and madness - the desire that reaches for the stars. A man should be wisdom, maturity, poise. John Manning has everything I need to save my soul. He can give me the high things of heaven and the beauty and abundance of the earth." (p 7)

I thought that her attitude would improve as the book progressed, but what we see is a woman who cared so much for fine clothes and other superficialities that she used her "womanly wiles" to get what she wanted from everyone else. She wanted John Manning, she got John Manning - leaving in her wake everyone who dared get in her way or slow her down. The whole thing made me cringe. "One must starve a little to keep one's figure in style." Ack!

By Chapter 10 I still found Sonya completely insufferable. "He is the end, the purpose of life. To get him I'd pluck the moonbeams out of the moon. I'd draw the sun-rays out of the sun. I'd dry oceans and level mountains - only to get him!"

Is this Twilight?? Did Stephenie Meyer write this book?

The issue of the story (the corruption of the settlement homes, etc.) was completely overshadowed by just about everything Sonya did and said. She's a 1-dimensional character with one end in sight - John Manning. She doesn't care about her own situation, her standing in the world, the circumstances surrounding her, the living conditions of others in her building... none of it. Her goal was to hook the man, and come hell or high water that is what she was going to do.

She does grow a pair by the end of the book. Sort of. Not really. Maybe a little.

Huge disappointment.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

a 1920's "love" story that nails the rich and their so-called charity.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me thing a lot about beauty, the "ready-made" clothing industry, and immigration

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

NO

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a well-written book. The first part is of interest in describing life in the lower east side tenements, but the romance part of the novel was painful. Unintentionally funny was the scene where the husband of the "Salome" of the book fanticizes about his wife's naked body while reading Kant. The other great annoyance is more one of typesetting. She put thoughts in quotes. So it is hard to tell whether the character is speaking out loud, or only in her head.

I only gave it a second star because of its descriptions of tenement life and the greater social issues are of historical interest.

[Emma Getz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We kill the divine in us. We kill the beauty in those we love. But the very killing makes immortal the contact."

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this novel had not been based upon the real life story of Rose Pastor and Graham Stokes, I would have thought that this was a women's fantasy cum morality play. But it is much more than that. It compares the passion of the immigrant upstart to the cold, analystical mind of the anglo-saxon blue-blood. It talks of the power of having "fire" in your belly and a driving personality to make dreams come true. It shows the scientific methods of how to help the downtrodden without ever consulting those who they are trying to help. It celebrates the force of beauty and creativity.
Yes, Sonya is totally misguided in her drive to marry rich, a situtation that can only end badly for such a mismatched couple, despite what they profess. The novel shows neither the Lower East Side Jews or the Fifth Avenue Presbyterians in a good light.
I am surprised by the number of negative reviews written by those who evaluate the manipulative witch that is Sonya by today's standards. But by the standards of the early 20th Centruy, women had hardly any opportunity to lift themselves out of grinding poverty without the forces of sheer willpower.

[Ffiamma · Rating 4 out of 5]

una ragazza povera e ardente che cerca di sollevarsi dalla miseria del ghetto ebreo di new york. un miliardario filantropo, un corteggiamento serrato e folle, la ricerca disperata della bellezza salvifica, il matrimonio e due mondi inconciliabili che non si incontreranno mai, gli abissi della disperazione e la rivincita. la verità è che davanti all'amore non esistono differenze sociali né ricchezza e povertà.
modernissimo romanzo degli anni '20.

[Shiran Avni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much. If I could read it in one sitting, I probably would have. The ending was a bit disappointing. I felt as though Yezierska had enough of the novel and didn't complete it properly.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful period piece dealing with social issues esp. those affecting Russian/American women. Interesting love story too. A great read!

[june3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to know what to say about a book that was written nearly 100 years ago. As in, it is important not to superimpose current realities on the sentiments and issues of the day as they were then.

That said, this book is at once spellbinding and perplexing. Sonya Vrunsky, Russian Jewish immigrant, sees her life in stasis and makes a plan to capture and enrapture Mr. John Manning, wealthy philanthropist and avowed do-gooder. She manages to do so via a phantasmagorical mix of charm and over-the-top self-confidence. Not unnoticed, Sonya believes (perhaps realistically, and an extremely interesting point) that she needs to eliminate the trappings of real poverty in order to win his heart.

I have to believe that this was meant as a parable of sorts.

Even in the 1920s, the whole schtick about passionate Russian Jews and cold-as-dead-fish Anglo-Saxon Protestants was of course a stereotype, one largely perpetuated by the Jewish community to maintain distance, dignity, and self-respect (see under "Goyim"). However, presuming that this was in fact the case in this individual situation, how could someone as canny and forthright as Sonya not either (a) figure this out ahead of time or (b) recognize it as a necessary part of the bargain.

Nonetheless, a fascinating book. I am going to try to find Yezierska's book, Bread Givers, on my next e-trip to Thriftbooks.

[K Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Salome of the Tenements by Anzia Yezierska is the story of Sonya, a Russian Jewish immigrant in New York, who decides that her life needs to be more than menial jobs and mere survival. She sets her sights on John Manning, a wealthy WASP, as her ticket out of ignorance and the confines that society has established for her. Through courage, pluck, and chutzpah, she enlists the aid of others, and lands John...only to have her doubts begin. These doubts start as a sense of now belonging nowhere, of only being seen and judged harshly by all, and develop into unhappiness and despair. This is a rather interesting short novel, and the insights provided by the author into what Sonya is thinking and feeling provide the structure for it.

[Emma Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! The language is beautiful and I think the end is inspiring as well as sincere. It is great to finally have a female Quixote figure who isn't just upset with romance and seduction. It might seem like that later in the book, but hold on for a little while and near the end, you will see it fit into something else. Yezierska's language is beautiful, at some points too beautiful for the story that it is describing. There are a lot of phenomenal quotes about beauty, passion, and desire and the story is an interesting one as well.

[janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i literally don't think that i'll ever think about this book again after i talk about it for grad school.

it's a fine story, but feels a bit like things that have been done before. i'm creating a really nice parallel to Pygmalion, for example. but yeah, i don't know, i think the story of the lower-class girl with upper-class aspirations is not my favorite story to read. it's well written, but for me that only does so much

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book to prepare for a booktalk at the end of the month. Otherwise, I would not have finished it. The fact that it was published under Radical Novels Reconsidered gave me hope that I might like it. This is a series of mid-century, left-wing books, re-issued in the 1990s, with new biographical information. The introduction by Gay Wilentz was the best part of the book. See El's review on Goodreads for a book review..

[Jack Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can see how this novel would have caused a stir a century ago, but it’s terrible. The heroine, if that she be, is awful— selfish, conceited, angry, etc. Yes, okay she’s poor, an orphan, and from the ghetto, but not all poor people are virtuous. The politics are grossly over-simplified and the plot is trite. The writing Is poor as is the editing. All the other characters , save one minor one and one who’s in and out, are either odious or unsympathetic.

[Roslyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting in the historical context.
Reads like early Jewish theater in NY - dramatic, histrionic, melodramatic.

[AbZeroNow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable novel. Sonya is indeed, "full of life" and a likeable character. Definitely a forgotten classic.

[Amber Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, under-rated novel but even if the writing wasn't excellent, its worth reading for the roast of John Dewey.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to like this as much as I did 😂

[Katia · Rating 5 out of 5]

falling in love with an Anglo-Saxon is like falling in love with a vampire

[fior]

the only books im reading now is for school…get out.

[Аркула · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,5/5
Овај роман би можда и био прихватљив да се из њега избаци све што ради и говори главни лик, Соња Врунски, само што би то значило да је остало десетак страна, ако и толико. Социјалне и друштвене теме тешког живота миграната у Њујорку почетком 20. века, што је у неку руку биографија Језирске, потпуно су остале у сенци Соњиног лика, њеног понашања и изјава. Чак је и њен лични развој толико предвидив (наравно да мушкарац њених снова на крају нијетај ) да је потпуно беспотребно уопште читати роман до краја.

Ово свакако није роман који бих икада својевољно изабрао да читам (факс), али стварно не чини услугу модерној америчкој књижевности. У њему нема ништа радикално или вредно изучавања. Сигуран сам да постоје много бољи романи на ову тему. Али ипак треба одати признање Језирској, њена Соња Врунски је један од најнапорнијих и најантипатичнијих главних ликова у историји књижевности.