(4/12/2018)
I am beginning my essay about The Family Tabor, a novel by Cherise Wolas with an excerpt of the diary written by my paternal grandmother, Annie Weinstein. She put the date, 1898 and a quote "All is Vanity". She began, "Determined in 1891 to keep a diary but put it off until I should have something worth writing. I thought of it again in 1894 yet I still decided to wait. Then in 1898 I resolved firmly to start it right then and there and ended by starting it to-day September seventh, 1898. " I was born September 30th, 1879 in Lebau, Russia, now Latvia. Libau, founded in 1625, was until 1914 one of the main ports of the Russian empire.
"My parents were comfortably possessed of this world's goods and so I had no sufferings on that account. I remember very little about Russia as I was about five when I left Russia, for the "Eldorado of the West" the United States. In New York things were very different and from our passage across the Atlantic dates my memory. I remember that my mother and sister were very ill but as I have always been hardy the voyage had very little effect on me. Our first residence in N.Y. was in 61 East Broadway and I remember it was quite a nice street. But here we were very poor and a little later moved to rooms a little cheaper and nicer in 5 Eldridge Street from there we opened a little store at 199? Bryant St. There, as though we were not poor enough we were robbed of almost everything we had. Then to 68 Bayard later to 54 Division where my father fell ill and we almost despaired of his life but Thank God he recovered. From there to 44 Allen St. again to 105 Allen St. and then to 83-1/2 Division where our fortunes turned…
My maternal grandmother was from Bialystok, my grandfather from Kiev. Reading Wolas' novel, I was transported back into my own family history as well as that of the Tabor family. Each of her characters resonated with someone I know. Roma, a child psychologist, is someone I know well as I am a forensic child psychologist. Her daughters, Phoebe, a lawyer and Camille, the anthropologist. My family includes lawyers, economists and others. They become comfortable companions with their brother Simon and his family on this tale of atonement and redemption. We discover the hidden truths, the layers covered on and move forward.
There is some much rich material in this novel. It bears several readings. Camille studied the Triobriand Islands. It was here that Mead studied teenaged girls and published her findings that adolescent "storm and stress" is not universal and continues to stand the test of time. Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski was Mead's mentor. His ethnography of the Trobriand Islands described the complex institution of the Kula ring, and became foundational for subsequent theories of reciprocity and exchange. His approach and that of this novel was a brand of psychological functionalism emphasizing how social and cultural institutions serve basic human needs. This is a wonderful book, reminiscent of Mann's Buddenbrooks but ultimately more hopeful.
Wolas' ends with Leonard Cohen. "If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game. If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame. If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame. You want it darker. We kill the flame. Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name. Vilified, crucified, in the human frame. A million candles burning for the help that never came. You want it darker. Hineni, hineni. I'm ready, my lord.