Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes [Paperback]

Tamar Yellin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Deeply melancholy with a streak of dark humor, award-winning author Tamar Yellin presents this haunting collection of linked stories that examine the heart of human longing and ask the question: Where do we belong?

Taking its imagery from the legend of the exiled ten tribes of Israel, Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes follows the life-journey of an enigmatic narrator who encounters a series of displaced persons, bringing to light the narrator's own remarkable wanderlust. With each encounter the narrator inevitably moves on, dreaming of home, unable to resist the lure of the world's labyrinth…

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Yellin's 10 serenely crafted stories, the plight of the wandering Jew is manifested in various outsiders, adventurers or those who are simply restless and homesick. Each brief tale is named for one of Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, exiled in Assyria and scattered across the globe according to the Old Testament. The peripatetic narrator's first encounter with wanderlust is her world-traveling Uncle Edras, a swashbuckling version of her bookish father who claims his brother is a bum. While her father is content with his armchair search for the Lost Tribes' fate, the girl is smitten by travel. As she grows up and makes her way in the world, she meets memorable kindred spirits: Professor G., a polyglot whose longing for his lost language eventually renders him mute; an old lady who fled her family home to sail abroad 40 years ago, but never got farther than the port; or the narrator's sickly 12-year-old pupil, Jacky Mendoza, who does not feel he inhabits his own body. Each mournful, startling portrait proves that award-winning Yellin (Kafka in Brontëland and Other Stories) is a stylist to watch. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Serenly crafted stories...Each mournful, startling portrait proves that award-winning Yellin is a stylist to watch." --Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312379137
• ISBN-13: 978-0312379131
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,144,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well written allegorical tales, October 3, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes (Paperback)

These are ten well written fascinating interrelated TALES OF THE TEN LOST TRIBES that look deep at the Wandering Jew exiled to travel the world as does the narrator does meeting other lonely displaced people mostly in self exile. In Reuben she admires her Uncle Esdras who soars like a bird from place to place while her dad considers his brother a wandering wastrel. In Simeon she meets on board a ship Nikos who knew everyone but no one knew him. In Dan, her dad's efforts to find book treasures prove as futile as her uncle's efforts to find an anchor because when her father dies, his books will be sold. In Naphtali, she leaves home for the last time as her mom has died, but though she has a student room she remains as rudderless as does Professor G whose search for his lost language leaves him mute.

There are six more profound allegorical tales of wanderlust and exile with a stark helpless beauty symbolized by her dad with his perpetual editing of his tiny tome and his book collection. A person can never finish wandering; as home is never the same once you step outside. So each step away is just like the lost tribes after the Assyrians scattered them to find new homes.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, captivating, page turning., December 17, 2008

By 

S. Castellano "Sciifly" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes (Hardcover)

I just finished reading The Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes. Tamar Yellin uses her words so expressively. The literature of the journies are classic, her sentences flow beautifully. I recommend any avid reader to take time to read this book.