Who Am I and Where Is Home? An American Woman in 1931 Palestine eBook Andrea Jackson
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A memoir/biography/compilation of letters to and from a young Jewish-American poet living in Palestine for one year during the Depression, including correspondence with her family in Brooklyn and with two of her suitors – one an ardent Zionist full of romantic schemes and the other a beginning attorney struggling to support his parents and sisters. Befriending other young Americans living in Jerusalem, she teaches English and works as secretary to a British engineer charged with overhauling the Jerusalem sewer system, which had been constructed by the Romans some 2000 years before. Her active social life is interrupted when one of the suitors arrives for a visit.
Who Am I and Where Is Home? An American Woman in 1931 Palestine eBook Andrea Jackson
Who Am I and Where Is Home? by Andrea Jackson is the story of two Brooklyn women—Celia Antopolsky, the author’s mother, and Celia’s best friend Lillian Shapiro—who visit Palestine in 1930-1931. The book is based on their correspondence with families and friends and on articles they wrote.Celia and Lillian are seasoned adventurers. In high school they hitchhike from Brooklyn to Montreal. After graduating from college they hitchhike across the United States and back. In their mid-twenties, when most women settle into marriage and motherhood, these two free spirits are not ready to abandon independence. Motivated by their love of new experiences and a longing to see the biblical homeland capturing imaginations throughout the Jewish community, they travel to Palestine on a cargo ship. Their voyage, which takes almost a month, involves buying guns they smuggle into Palestine for Jewish settlers who need self-protection. The women, who both have boyfriends in New York, will be in Palestine for months and months, so there is also a timeless and compelling sub-story about the psychology of independent women as they contemplate marriage.
In elegant prose Celia and Lillian describe scenes of donkeys, camels, and vibrant bazaars. Celia, the more romantic of the two women, describes Jerusalem an “an old city laid on perhaps the ruins of ten civilizations, an old quarter teeming with Jewish-Arab life, strange smells, embroideries, food stuffs, leather work…loud barter, squalling babies….” She writes, “The full moon in Palestine…is almost as light as the sun, and a whole world of silver light fills my heart with aching.” Lillian, perhaps more attuned to practicalities and the hard lives she sees, writes, “There was no electricity. The shops were lit with oil lamps. To make a purchase one needed to know the fine points and nuances of bargaining. There were beggars at every turn…and Arab boys who offered their services as guides.” Both women find jobs and adjust well to life in Palestine.
The letters have political interest as well. They describe reactions in Palestine and the United States to the pro-Arab, Anti-Zionist White Paper of October 1930 setting down British policy in Palestine that limited Jewish immigration and development. One noteworthy example is a moving account by Celia’s friend Ellis Polonsky about the night that Einstein uncharacteristically consented to join the celebration of Chanukah in Madison Square Garden where “all of New York Zionism gathered” and cheered Einstein with gratitude.
The letters also make a contribution by addressing the inevitable changes that occur when young women abandon independence for marriage and children. (Although psychologists have focused on the changes girls undergo when they become conscious of boys in general, more needs to be written about the changes that occur when young women narrow their focus from men in general to particular ones.) This situation is especially poignant for Celia because she must choose between a lawyer with a promising future, who chides Celia about her appearance and her poetic letters (which he regards as impersonal), and an already married man who deeply appreciates her artistic and adventurous nature and who charms her with his adoration.
It is fortunate both that Celia Antopolsky, Lillian Shapiro, and their correspondents had literary talents and that their letters survived. Andrea Jackson did a masterful job of using these letters to create a fascinating book. It is well-worth reading.
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Who Am I and Where Is Home? An American Woman in 1931 Palestine eBook Andrea Jackson Reviews
Such an interesting read about such an interesting woman in a most interesting time in history. The letters between Celia and her suitors (one would be come her husband, Harry), are charming and take you back in time to 1930s Palestine and New York City.
An incredibly interesting exploration of the author's mother -- her relationships, travels to Palestine, aspirations, and her efforts to find her place in the world, both as a woman and as an artist. Equally fascinating is the correspondence between Celia and Harry and Celia and Ellis ----- the reader is privy to all sides of this triangle. What I enjoyed most is the glimpse into a world that beforehand I knew very little of and won't soon forget.
The reader is immediately hooked. There is betrayal afoot, and triangles of passion. Who will be the father of this author, who chronicles her mother's adventurous forays into foreign climes? This is Celia, a liberated woman with insight, with a vocabulary to express it, and charm enough to get her way (or ways...as she is delightfully mercurial). The immediacy of Middle Eastern politics, framed by the chaos of personal relationship, is stunning.
Fascinating story recreated and interwoven through actual letters from around 1930 when written correspondence was an art form in communication. Celia's story of herself and her family and friends leaps off the page until I felt I really knew these people. Various twists and turns keep this a real page turner. The author ( Celia's daughter) is a gifted writer in pulling these letters and prose together into a very readable and insightful story.
Fascinating true story about a woman's life as a young adult in New York and her travels with a friend to pre-Israel Palestine in the early 1930's. What is unusual is that it is told almost solely through actual letters sent to the protagonist by friends, family and two suitors as well as a few letters written by herself, most of which were found by her daughter (the author) after her mother's death. The letters, especially from the suitors, are arranged as parallel storylines which kept me in suspense, wanting to find out what would happen next, especially with her love life. The end briefly covers the rest of her life, beyond those youthful years.
I loved this book! It is a wonderful story about a year in the author's mother's life, when she traveled as a young woman to what is now Israel. The story unfolds through a series of beautifully written letters that were sent back and forth to a variety of family members and friends, and most specifically, to two young men vying for her affection. Along the way, as the reader becomes increasingly curious to find out who Celia ends up with, it is fascinating to learn about what life was like at that time, both in the US, Europe and the Middle East. There is no question that Andrea Jackson, the author, has inherited her mother's gift for writing!
I found this book to be both challenging and provocative. Challenging because it forced me to really appreciate and come to understand a very unique time in history. Provocative because the fine detailing in the letters left me with more questions. That the letters were so lyrical, at times made me jealous that the art form of letter writing is almost gone for most of us. Now we no longer even E-mail so much as "instant message" or "tweet." I thought a lot about my own mother who, though from similar background and of a similar personality, would never have had the nerve to do what Celia and her friend Lillian did.
Who Am I and Where Is Home? by Andrea Jackson is the story of two Brooklyn women—Celia Antopolsky, the author’s mother, and Celia’s best friend Lillian Shapiro—who visit Palestine in 1930-1931. The book is based on their correspondence with families and friends and on articles they wrote.
Celia and Lillian are seasoned adventurers. In high school they hitchhike from Brooklyn to Montreal. After graduating from college they hitchhike across the United States and back. In their mid-twenties, when most women settle into marriage and motherhood, these two free spirits are not ready to abandon independence. Motivated by their love of new experiences and a longing to see the biblical homeland capturing imaginations throughout the Jewish community, they travel to Palestine on a cargo ship. Their voyage, which takes almost a month, involves buying guns they smuggle into Palestine for Jewish settlers who need self-protection. The women, who both have boyfriends in New York, will be in Palestine for months and months, so there is also a timeless and compelling sub-story about the psychology of independent women as they contemplate marriage.
In elegant prose Celia and Lillian describe scenes of donkeys, camels, and vibrant bazaars. Celia, the more romantic of the two women, describes Jerusalem an “an old city laid on perhaps the ruins of ten civilizations, an old quarter teeming with Jewish-Arab life, strange smells, embroideries, food stuffs, leather work…loud barter, squalling babies….” She writes, “The full moon in Palestine…is almost as light as the sun, and a whole world of silver light fills my heart with aching.” Lillian, perhaps more attuned to practicalities and the hard lives she sees, writes, “There was no electricity. The shops were lit with oil lamps. To make a purchase one needed to know the fine points and nuances of bargaining. There were beggars at every turn…and Arab boys who offered their services as guides.” Both women find jobs and adjust well to life in Palestine.
The letters have political interest as well. They describe reactions in Palestine and the United States to the pro-Arab, Anti-Zionist White Paper of October 1930 setting down British policy in Palestine that limited Jewish immigration and development. One noteworthy example is a moving account by Celia’s friend Ellis Polonsky about the night that Einstein uncharacteristically consented to join the celebration of Chanukah in Madison Square Garden where “all of New York Zionism gathered” and cheered Einstein with gratitude.
The letters also make a contribution by addressing the inevitable changes that occur when young women abandon independence for marriage and children. (Although psychologists have focused on the changes girls undergo when they become conscious of boys in general, more needs to be written about the changes that occur when young women narrow their focus from men in general to particular ones.) This situation is especially poignant for Celia because she must choose between a lawyer with a promising future, who chides Celia about her appearance and her poetic letters (which he regards as impersonal), and an already married man who deeply appreciates her artistic and adventurous nature and who charms her with his adoration.
It is fortunate both that Celia Antopolsky, Lillian Shapiro, and their correspondents had literary talents and that their letters survived. Andrea Jackson did a masterful job of using these letters to create a fascinating book. It is well-worth reading.
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