Drop-In Book Discussion: Kantika by Elizabeth Graver, Facilitated by Jim Van Buskirk
Join us for a lively in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking on Pierce between Ellis and Eddy.
To register, click here. You may borrow a copy of Kantika at no charge by contacting us at info@jewishcommunitylibrary.org. It can also be borrowed as an ebook here or as an audiobook here.
About the book:
This year’s One Bay One Book selection, Elizabeth Graver’s novel Kantika was the recipient of a 2023 National Jewish Book Award, and a finalist for the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Jewish Fiction Award. A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, Kantika—“song” in Ladino—follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way—a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge—her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old.
Exploring identity, place and exile, this lush, lyrical novel from Elizabeth Graver celebrates the insistence on seizing beauty and grabbing hold of one’s one and only life.
About the facilitator:
Jim Van Buskirk is a retired librarian (San Francisco Public Library, Jewish Community Library) who currently works as a book group facilitator, writer, editor, public speaker, exhibit curator, and collections manager. He frequently writes articles and/or presents programs related to Jewish, literary, film, and/or queer history.
Program made possible, in part, by Dr. Sandra Cohen.