The Two-Family House
The time frame is the late 1940s, the place is Brooklyn. Common to that era, two Jewish families share two floors of a home. The family consists of the affable Abe and his wife, Helen, and the more acerbic Mort and his wife, Rose. Abe and Helen have only boys, and Mort and Rose have girls. Abe and Mort are in business together, and the two sisters-in-law have a close friendship. The cousins are in and out of each other’s houses all the time, while the family spends holidays and vacations together.
In a twist of fate, the two women give birth to what would be their youngest babies on the same wintry night, when a blizzard kept the husbands from being present. Soon after, things gradually change for the families. The friendship that binds the two women starts to unravel, though no other family member can quite understand why.
This absolutely riveting book reads like a suspense novel; although many clues are peppered throughout; the reader, like the families, is not invited to share in the shocking secret that binds the two women. The underlying complexities of friendship, the intricacies of marriage and the disintegration of family are explored in this gem of a family saga. The characters are fully drawn, and the writing is superb. This is a book that is sure to become a popular choice for book clubs.
