This enchanting true story, written when the author was ninety-three, is a moving tale of working-class life, social divide, and forbidden love on the eve of the first World War.
The narrow street on which Harry grew up appeared identical to countless other working-class English neighborhoods—except for the invisible wall that ran down the center of the street, dividing the Jewish families on one side from the Christians on the other. The geographical distance may have been yards, but socially, it was miles. Families on either side did not speak or meet. But when Harry’s older sister fell for the boy across the street, Harry became a go-between for the lovers, crossing the great divide to hide their secret. When the truth inevitably came out, Harry had to decide, at a very young age, what he believed was morally right.
Bernstein's remarkable memoir of an obscure Lancashire mill town before, during, and after WWI would be a daunting task for any narrator. John Lee superbly captures the intricacies of various accents--the young Russian rabbi, the guest from Leeds, the headmaster of the fancy school, the drunk shopkeepers. The one place he falters is in his pronunciation of a few Hebrew words, but that can easily be forgiven in this masterful presentation. Writing when he was already in his 90s, Bernstein is one of the last people alive who can recall the smallest details, the gestures and innuendos, of a landscape and culture already extinct. R.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
Booklist (starred review)...
"A groundbreaking story of family secrets and forbidden love told in plain, beautiful prose through the eyes of a young Jewish boy…the chapters are tense with danger and with tenderness."
About the Author
Harry Bernstein immigrated to the United States with his family after World War I. He has written all his life but started writing The Invisible Wall following the death of his wife, Ruby, three years ago. Now ninety-five years old, he lives in Brick, New Jersey, where he is working on another book.
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