Growing up in Tzfat at the turn of the twentieth century, Esther does not know what to expect when she marries Moshe, a trunk-maker with dreams of following his brothers to start a new life in America. Tzfat may not be perfect .

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but what about the challenges of the new world, so strange and so far from everything Esther and Moshe have ever known?Those challenges, after all, are considerable—from the constant economic struggle of feeding and housing a growing family; to the pull of the modernity that threatens to unravel Esther and Moshe’s Jewish traditions; to the global crises of war and pandemic; and finally, to the terrible toll taken by mental illness. Of course, there is joy and endurance, too—more than enough for Esther and Moshe’s story to be richly retold many years later.

And the retelling in this book begins when a granddaughter finds a trunk that Moshe made, and is intrigued by its meticulous, old-world craftsmanship . .

. My Grandfather’s Trunk is historical fiction.

While the focus is on the Jewish immigrant experience in America of the early twentieth century, the story also includes some dark themes. Readers, please take note.

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