The War of the Rosens

by Janice Eidus

The War of the Rosens , set in 1965, is about an eccentric Jewish family in the Bronx in which the sibling rivalry between two young sisters--one of whom is seriously ill--reaches a danger point,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933016388
• ISBN13: 9781933016382
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Behler Publications
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Didn't want to put it down.....

I found myself so engrossed in the Rosen family, that I read this book in 3 days. The characters were unusual, complex, yet sympathetic despite their flaws. They continue to linger with me, and I'm looking forward to the next book. (I also recommend "The Celibacy Club"--a short story collection by the same author. The first story "Elvis, Axl, and Me" is hysterical!)

War of the Rosens is wonderful!

This is a novel about the relationships among and between a mother and father and two daughters. The narrator reveals her family; her father whose politics put him at odds with the rest of the neighbors, her mother who works hard to care for husband and daughters, and her sister with whom she has tremendous sibling rivalry. In one incident, the ten-year-old narrator sneaks into a Catholic church and has a conversation with the Virgin Mary. She dips her hand into the holy water font and fears that she has baptized herself. I have met the writer and plan to read her other books.

I was sorry when it ended

A book about a 10-year old Jewish girl in the Bronx seemed to me an unlikely page-turner, but I found this a compelling read. The social milieu is well-defined, and the characters are alive. Eidus does not shy away from portraying the little black corners of the two sisters' hearts (nasty characters are always more interesting), but the ultimate result of this 'war' is not devastation, but creation. Her quirky sense of humor(great names, for example)keep things moving along. I look forward to a sequel.

Time well spent

Reading this book was an absolute pleasure. Not that the subject matter is easy to feel good about, it's simply that Janice's characters are so real and so likable, even amid all their sometimes tragic flaws, I could not wait to find out what happened to them. This is a beautiful book about growing up in the violent, often spiritually impoverished New York of 1965. The domestic violence is so clearly depicted that it can be harrowing to read about, yet the underlying innocence of the characters and the love that informs and motivates them, will give you a lot of hope. This is not a story you will soon forget.

An unforgettable story about a contemporary secular Jewish family struggling to define itself

The story is about Emma Rosen, 10-years old, and her growing up amidst a tumultuous Jewish family in a Bronx housing project, in 1965. Besides capturing the period and the drama with pitch-perfect accuracy, wit and humor, the book is noteworthy for its examination of themes of non-belief and figuring out how to be a "good Jew" despite a lack of belief, and how to cope with tragedy without this belief to fall back on. This challenge, of course, is not uniquely Jewish. Emma's father, Leo, a self-described "politically progressive Jewish atheist", is a dogmatic, volatile man who will trouble readers on account of his temperament, but his philosophical views are especially timely in this age of so-called "New Atheism." The book is a breakthrough in another way. Unlike the earlier generation of Jewish novels, whose protagonists were immigrants and their children - e.g. Call It Sleep - this story is about the next generation - the second-generation Americans, like Emma's parents, scarred by the tragedies of their upbringing, the deprivations of their own parents' limitations, and, in this case, the disappointments of failed Communism. Since readers have the benefit of hindsight, we also can't help but feel especially sympathetic to Annette, Emma's mother, who was born just a bit too early and doesn't yet have the benefits of a new feminism to awaken her own independence and freedom. This is a marvelous book, with appeal to Jews and non-Jews alike. Enjoy! Rabbi Peter Schweitzer The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism New York City