New Author of Jewish Fiction
Golders Green Setting for Andrew Sanger's Novel about London's Jews
Feb 9, 2009
The J-Word is a work of Jewish fiction and the first novel from award-winning travel writer Andrew Sanger. Sanger, who lives in north London's Golders Green, has travelled the world and written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He is also the author of about thirty guidebooks to such destination as France, Ireland, Belgium and Israel. He has also lived in Greece, India, the USA, and southern France. His first work of fiction is set in the streets around his own home, and of it he says: "I could almost have written it just by looking out of my window."
The J-Word is an intriguing mix of a book that cleverly weaves several themes. In one respect it is an old-fashioned tale of the friendship between an 80-year-old man and his 10-year-old grandson, the story of the 'odd couple' who turn out to have more in common than first appears. But it is also very much a contemporary London novel, of life on the streets and in the bubbling melting pot of communities and cultures. It is a novel of crime and revenge and justice, an exploration of the Jewish faith, and a look at the pressures and frustrations of modern life. It also manages to be deeply moving, shocking, and also very funny in places.
The Plot
Jack Silver is the cantankerous yet principled 80-year-old Yiddish-speaker who is wary and critical of everything Jewish. When his son, a travel writer, has some kind of breakdown in Switzerland, Jack is called in to look after his grandson Danny while Danny's mother flies out to help her husband. Jack moves into the family home in Golder's Green, and is forced to confront the Jewishness he has tried to leave behind in order to become more 'English'. A shocking and brutal anti-Semitic attack on Jack in the streets sets in motion a story of revenge as Jack, ignored by the police, bravely if foolishly seeks to track his attackers down.
The Characters
The author deftly switches between the first-person viewpoints of Jack and Danny, and the universal third-person by which we see the world through the eyes of the other characters. It's a large cast of characters too, but all of them are clearly-defined and convincing. Jack is argumentative but friendly, and talks to anyone on the street in an affable old-fashioned way. He also has a strong sense of what's right, and will help people in need.
Danny is a typical 10-year-old boy, forever asking questions and there are some laugh-out-loud scenes when, for instance, he wonders about the 'Best Before' dates on foodstuffs. "Why have a use-by date at all?" he wonders, suggesting instead: "What about Don't Use If Mouldy? Or what about Please Use Your Sense?"
The Dialogue
Sanger also handles dialogue beautifully, a skill not all authors have. He has a natural ear for the way people speak, not just the young kids like Danny and his friends but also the thugs that attack Jack, and whose squalid lives we enter into for a time.
Some of the best scenes are when Jack is narrating, as he tells his story to his wife, Miri, who died of cancer. It was a long and obviously very close marriage, and the way Jack talks to her intimately and caringly, even about his own faults, are beautifully touching.
Jewish Friction in Fiction
At the heart of the book is the Jewish faith, though, and what it means to many of the characters. Jack has tried to distance himself from it, his son Simon is trying to embrace it, while Danny is at the age when he is curious about everything. The book introduces secular Jews, Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, each with their own take on what it means to be Jewish. And while The J-Word is undeniably a book of Jewish fiction, it succeeds because it transcends that and is ultimately a book about real people, their friendships, their hopes, their problems and their beliefs. It's a remarkably accomplished debut from a talented writer.
Practical Information
The J-Word by Andrew Sanger is published by Snowbooks at £7.99 in the UK and $14.95 in the USA.
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