Escaping the Whale: The Holocaust is over. But is it ever over for the next generation? (New Jewish Fiction) - Hardcover

Rotkowitz, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9493056635 ISBN 13: 9789493056633

Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers, 2020

Synopsis

To everyone who knows her, 28-year-old Marcia Gold leads the perfect life.  A high school guidance counselor in 1980 Brooklyn, New York who specializes in helping pregnant teens, Marcia thrives in her work. She also has a handsome, successful boyfriend who has won the approval of her Jewish, Holocaust-survivor family - no easy feat.

However, beneath the shiny surface lurks another reality. Plagued by frightening and debilitating panic attacks brought on by her family's wartime legacy and exacerbated by the Iranian hostage crisis in the news, Marcia becomes convinced that "demons" are occupying her closet and her mind. Determined to keep her terrifying secret life a secret, Marcia is pushed closer and closer to a breaking point.

A series of crises finally forces the explosion Marcia can no longer contain. Desperate to rid herself of her "demons," she concocts a plan, hoping to be reborn as a new person. Unfortunately, she discovers that her plan creates its own problems. Can she find another path out of her psychic pain, one that will lead her to true normalcy?

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Rotkowitz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1949 to Jewish Holocaust survivors who fled Vienna, Austria when Hitler came to power. This legacy has informed her research and her writing. Ruth earned a B.A. and M.A. in English and has taught on both the college and high school levels, in New York and New Jersey. As a freelance writer, she has published fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in anthologies and literary journals. She has also served as a staff writer and member of the editorial board of the (now defunct) Woman's Newspaper of Princeton, where her feature articles garnered numerous awards. She and her husband moved to Arizona in 2009, and Ruth became involved with the Phoenix Holocaust Association. In her volunteer work for this organization, she gives book talks in the Phoenix area, including for the adult education program at Arizona State University, on Holocaust-related books. Her debut novel, ESCAPING THE WHALE, has been released April 11, 2020. Featuring a protagonist who must deal with her own painful family legacy along with the frightening news involving the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1980, the novel follows her struggle to be "normal" and present as normal in her job and love life. At some point, she will have to realize that she cannot continue with her act. Ruth believes the novel will appeal to lovers of literature, history, and psychology, as well as lovers of an old-fashioned growing-up story!

Edition details

• Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9493056635
• ISBN 13: 9789493056633
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 408