Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale

How Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale wasn't on my radar until recently is beyond me. I read about it recently in an email from the Jewish Book Council. Andrew Kane's novel is such a powerful read.

This story which spans about 40 years centers on Joshua, Paul and Rachel, three individuals whose lives intersect repeatedly over the time period covered in the book.

From the blurb: Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale views four decades through three lives. Andrew Kane's novel is a love story about loneliness, a reflection on the value of community that acknowledges that it takes a village to raise a mob, a tale of public dysfunction and personal demons, and an image of the frail beauty of humanity that somehow survives.

Themes in the book include religious identity, fanaticism, racism, segregation, women's roles, opportunity, and the bonds of friendship. There's romance, eating disorders and parental expectations.

Joshua is a young black boy when his mother moves him from Bed-Stuy to Crown Heights in an effort to increase his opportunities in life. Paul is a secular Jew living on Long Island with his assimilated parents who is exposed to Hasidic Judaism when he trains for his Bar Mitzvah with a rabbi from Crown Heights. Rachel is the rabbi's daughter.

I grew up in Brooklyn so was able to picture some of what was described in the book. There are also historical events that are fictionalized - somewhat - and I recall several of those as well. The book culminates with the Crown Heights riots in 1991 and sadly, much has not changed in those 30-plus years.

I highly recommend Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale and think it would make a great choice for my synagogue book club. We just selected a different book for our October book, but I might suggest this for our January title.