Scrub

by Emily Nemens

Each September, the Jewish calendar begins anew with Rosh Hashanah. It is followed by ten Days of Awe, a period of reflection and repentance. The High Holy Days close with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day Jews fast and ask God to forgive their sins. Reminded of human suffering by the day's hunger pangs, they also pardon all who have wronged them in the past year, and pray all those that they have wronged will grant the same forgiveness. The absolution of these worldly conflicts is given the same significance as prayers offered up to heaven, and only after this cycle is complete may the new year begin. Scrub is collection of stories written in and about these holy days. Taken out of the context of Judaism, the stories explore the more universal process of atonement. A homeless man walking across Providence, a pregnant sixteen-year-old cruising around Seattle, an Italian ballet dancer performing on New York's premier stage, and a boy driving across the country to save his best friend...each has been dealt a shattering blow, and each is seeking the forgiveness that will set them on the path to being whole again. Wrestling with transgression and repentance, the characters of Scrub try to wash away their wrongs by extreme measure, eventually turning to acceptance and finally finding hope. Scrub was a Bronze Medal finalist in the 2008 Independent Publishers Association IPPY Awards.

80 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Emily Nemens’s debut novel, The Cactus League, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and named one of NPR’s and Lit Hub’s favorite books of 2020. Her stories have appeared in BOMB, The Gettysburg Review, n+1, and elsewhere; her illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker and in collaboration with Harvey Pekar. Nemens spent over a decade editing literary quarterlies, including leading The Paris Review and serving as co-editor and prose editor of The Southern Review. She held the 2022–23 Picador Professorship (University of Leipzig) and teaches in the MFA program at Bennington College. She lives in central New Jersey with her husband and dog.