Customer Reviews

Golden Country: A Novel

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"For you," one of the characters in Jennifer Gilmore's debut novel tells his sons, "I promise you a golden country." And in the 1920s in New York, the possibilities America seems to offer its new immigrants truly do appear golden, endless. Joseph works as a door-to-door salesman, all the while slaving away in bathtubs at home, trying to invent the perfect cleaning product. Frances translates her neighbors' Yiddish letters into a new language - English - for them to send back to Europe for the family left behind. Meanwhile, Solomon falls in with gangsters, bringing shame to his family. All the while, babies are born, inventions are perfected, dreams slowly expand - with no less than Irving Berlin, the invention of the television, Mae West and the 1939 World's Fair as backdrops. With her meticulous knowledge of 1920s - 1950s American life and Grace Paley-esque gift for dialogue, Jennifer Gilmore has crafted a grand, glittering novel that is universal in its themes of family heartbreak, hope and redemption. Golden Country is the best, most seductive book I've read this year.

This book follows the lives of the second and third generations of three Russian-Jewish immigrant families living in NYC from the 1920s to the 60s. The book does not attempt much in the way of a novel look at life for immigrants, nor are the characters all that compelling or well-drawn. In the first part of the book, the families live in crowded circumstances in a Brooklyn ethnic neighborhood, where everyone knows everyone else's business, mothers are obsessed with cleaning, and fathers work long hours, often peddling wares, with marginal success. The gold-paved streets thought to exist looked at from the distance of Russia do not, though compared to the pogroms escaped in Russia perhaps America is a paradise.

If the reader would think that humble origins, a lack of education, and lives overwhelmed with daily survival are obstacles to success, this author has a story for you. Joseph Brodsky goes from selling cleaning solution all over New England to creating an entirely new type of cleaning product in his basement. His brother Solomon escapes the neighborhood by joining the Mob and engaging in bootlegging - of course, he rises to the top. Seymour Bloom turns from selling encyclopedias to being an enforcer for Solomon to being a successful Broadway producer. Frances Verdonik has the good fortune to marry a Westinghouse engineer who invented the first crude television. Then, Joseph has the innovative idea of using television advertising for his cleaning products with neighborhood chum Frances being his on-camera spokesperson.

Of course the seaside cottages and high-rise apartments in the trendy part of town follow. The third generation kids attend prep schools and the Seven Sisters colleges. Plastic surgery is used to eradicate non New England-blue-blood facial characteristics, like large noses. Newly wealthy, there is no real need for the kids to hold actual paying jobs, so traveling to Central America to "help" can be pursued.

It is difficult to see the fascination with this book. It is completely in the mainstream of "the humble immigrant makes good" genre, all accomplished in the most unbelievable and unanalyzed manner. With the possible exception of Frances, the characters are far from convincing. The plot interweaves the families, but is not all that nuanced. There just seems to be a certain superficiality to the book.

Goldene Medina, which is Yiddish for "Golden County," is a place an immigrant can escape to from the pogroms in Russia, Poland and Germany. A place of opportunity, where you don't have to live in a shetl and the world is your oyster. Author Gilmore follows the lives of three separate families that all have ties from growing up together in Brooklyn.

Joseph Brodsky is the creator of Essoil, a two-in-one cleaning ingredient. His brother Solomon was the first Jewish mobster to be imprisoned for his activities during Prohibition. He left behind his wife Pauline, whose sister Frances Verdonik married Vladimir Zworykin, the inventor of television. Lastly we have Seymour Bloom tethered in any unhappy marriage to an alcoholic, college-educated dreamer, Sarah. Seymour worked for Solomon, during a brief stint as a gangster, but got out of the business to produce Broadway plays.

During the course of the first fifty or so years in America, we see the triumphs and tragedies of the Jewish experience. We experience the anguish, despair-and thankfulness that these families missed the Holocaust, but could have easily been caught up in it. Gilmore's facts are accurate, albeit fictionalized, and she captures the immigrant experience in such a way that makes the reader believe they're living it too.

Even though there's bad blood between them, the Brodsky and Bloom family are tethered together again when David Bloom marries Miriam Brodsky, and they have to navigate the terrain of 1960's America while living with the accomplishments, guilt and experiences of their parents. The twist ending is an excellent denouement to Golden Country.

This is an excellent book about the Jewish immigrant experience in America.

Armchair Interviews says: This historical fiction is a wonderful, can't-put-down read!

Jennifer Gilmore's first novel is a stunning debut. From start to finish, Golden Country draws the reader into the inter-twining lives of the Bloom, Brodsky and Verdonik families, first and second generation Jewish immigrants raised in the "golden country" of America. Gilmore has developed brilliant, complex characters - ranging from tragically comedic Sarah, an alcoholic full of regret of how her life turned out, to Francis, the larger-than-life go-getter who doesn't let her "frumpiness"" get in the way of success.

Gilmore skillfully utilizes humor, tradegy and American history to weave her story. You will laugh out loud, cry and in the end, wish for more of this wonderful novel.

Jennifer Gilmore's beautifully written novel transports the reader to early 20th century New York and beyond in this intricately woven story of three Jewish immigrant families. The reader is swept into this facinating, witty, descriptive and historical novel. This is a must read. Golden Country has a heartbeat, it's a real page turner!

Golden Country is terrific--a definite must. Gilmore is a wonderful writer with an amazing ability to develop such strong characters and images in the book that they live with you even after you've finished the book. There's the dazzle of broadway; the rawness of Jewish mafia; and the toughness of immigrant survival. Gilmore's "golden" touch is to develop ironies about the American dream through such unforgetable, fascinating characters. It's a classic, not to be missed.

Golden Country captures an earlier generation of immigrants, when all things were possible if you were willing to work hard. The intertwining of families who started life in the same Brooklyn neighborhood,the "black sheep" who becomes a member of the mob and how that decision impacts the other characters makes this an interesting read. It's easy to get caught-up in their lives and to wonder how much is taken from the author's own background.

There is only one thing to be improved in this book - its title. "Golden medina" would better reflect the Jewish-American spirit of it. "Medina" is Yiddish (and Hebrew) word for "country", and "golden country" in this book is America - Promised Land, land that many immigrants promised to their kids to be "a rose garden".
"Golden country" is family saga that describes live and dreams of three generations of Eastern European immigrants, their way to survive in America, to make the living and make the dreams come true. Every one of the heroes looks for their own way to belong - and these ways are as different, as people are - religion and science, hard work and crime, art and business. I am not sure that this was her intention, but author succeeded to portray the strange way many immigrants feel, which sometimes goes like : Russian Jewish American... who am I? Where do I belong?
I enjoyed the book on many levels. First, I was amazed by author's ability to depict the atmosphere and spirit of time, be it 1920-s or 1950-s. "The God is in details", and the details of time and place are surprisingly vivid - it was really easy for me to picture Brooklyn in 1920-s; it seemed that Morricone's theme from "once upon in America" was playing in the background.
Second, the characters in the book are delightfully real people. While reading the book, you would feel that you live with the heroes on the same street, fall in love together with them, dream, cry and worry with them.
The last but not the least: after finishing the book, I felt as if I was leaving the party that would still continue without me, and experienced all the specter of emotions: sadness and delight, nostalgia and hope. For me, it is a sign of a very good book.

When I read the reviews for this book I was very excited as I was reading this for my Sisterhood's book club. When I finished this book (finally), I re-read the reviews and felt that the writers had read a different book. The story line is very convoluted. Keeping the characters straight for the first half of the book required constant checking on the genealogy. I did not find it funny or touching; I found it a very sad book. The characters were not satisfied with their lives and seemed to die disappointed. Also, while it is reviewed as being a "Jewish" novel, I felt the Judaism was peripheral to the story. The characters could just as easily have been Irish or Italian. I would not read anything else written by this author.

Golden Country is by far the best book that I have read in a long time. Gilmore has created a large cast of compelling characters whose lives I immediately wanted to know more about. Moreover, it is a beautifully written book. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I look forward to her next book.