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Well written, poignant - a first hand view of poverty and anti-semitism in prewar England.
The Jewish went to the local public school and the Catholic to the Catholic School. We, as a thoughtful world, have to look at people as equals.Poverty is a great equalizer in this book. Where I grew up was a street that ended at Lake Michigan.
I don't think a love story came out of the street but I didn't marry a Jew. It makes the story even more compelling. I overcame the bigotry of the street and the society as a whole.
I related very well to this book. There just was no interaction. I totally enjoyed and related tothis book.
We has Jewish and Catholic on the same block. We didn't visit with each other or play with each other, but we didn't fight.
And to think it took 96 years before he put it on paper. Loved the read, harsh yet sweet in so many ways, so much like life.
There is no interaction between the two groups until a forbidden marriage takes place. It is a life of poverty in this family of many children and a cruel father. This memoir of a life in England during World War I was written by a man in his 90s. In his afterword the author suggests that the world would be a better place if there was more inter-marriage. The mother is a martyr who struggles to raise her family in spite of all the obstacles. His memory of conversations and events is amazing. The invisable wall of the title is the line on the street where he lives, with Jews on one side and Christians on the other.
Berstein's story of his life was one I highly recommend even if you don't normally read biography. I loved this book. Mr.
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