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Well written, poignant - a first hand view of poverty and anti-semitism in prewar England.
I related very well to this book. It makes the story even more compelling. There just was no interaction.
We has Jewish and Catholic on the same block. I overcame the bigotry of the street and the society as a whole. Where I grew up was a street that ended at Lake Michigan.
I don't think a love story came out of the street but I didn't marry a Jew. The Jewish went to the local public school and the Catholic to the Catholic School. We didn't visit with each other or play with each other, but we didn't fight.
We, as a thoughtful world, have to look at people as equals.Poverty is a great equalizer in this book. I totally enjoyed and related tothis book.
Loved the read, harsh yet sweet in so many ways, so much like life. And to think it took 96 years before he put it on paper.
There is no interaction between the two groups until a forbidden marriage takes place. This memoir of a life in England during World War I was written by a man in his 90s. In his afterword the author suggests that the world would be a better place if there was more inter-marriage. His memory of conversations and events is amazing. The invisable wall of the title is the line on the street where he lives, with Jews on one side and Christians on the other. It is a life of poverty in this family of many children and a cruel father. The mother is a martyr who struggles to raise her family in spite of all the obstacles.
I loved this book. Mr. Berstein's story of his life was one I highly recommend even if you don't normally read biography.
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