“An engaging and heartfelt portrayal of intergenerational trauma and hope.” -Kirkus Reviews

How to Make a Life: A Novel is a spellbinding family saga with strong shades of history; it is engrossing and fast-paced.” — Romuald Dzemo, Readers' Favorite

When Ida and her daughter Bessie flee a catastrophic pogrom in Ukraine for America in 1905, they believe their emigration will ensure that their children and grandchildren will be safe from harm. But choices and decisions made by one generation have ripple effects on those who come later--and in the decades that follow, family secrets, betrayals, and mistakes made in the name of love threaten the survival of the family: Bessie and Abe Weissman's children struggle with the shattering effects of daughter Ruby's mental illness, of Jenny's love affair with her brother-in-law, of the disappearance of Ruby's daughter as she flees her mother's legacy, and of the accidental deaths of Irene's husband and granddaughter.

A sweeping saga that follows four generations from the tenements of Brooklyn through WWII, from Woodstock to India, and from Spain to Israel, How to Make a Life is the story of a family who must either deal with their differences or cut ties with the people who anchor their place in the world.

Justine Reiss

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