In this remarkable collection of essays, stories and poems, Jewish women writers from around the world offer diverse perspectives on the idea of home. The longing for home is an ancient as the exile from Eden, and for the forty writers showcased in this anthology, the struggle to find and redefine home has been intensified by history, the Holocaust, and the diverse cultural, political and religious contexts in which they live and write. Together, they explore the many natures and meanings of home: home as a place one is born to and sometimes forced to leave; home as a place one can journey toward or create; home as an abstract composite or memories, emotions and rituals. Some of these writers contend with exile and anti-Semitism, others examine the mixed blessings of sheltered childhoods, and all comfront memories in which the historical and personal are intertwined. Their range of perspectives and their personal approaches to a universal concern make Where we find ourselves a compelling read for students, scholars, and all who seek to undestand what it means to be home.
"Where we find ourselves is a moving tapestry of Jewish women's search for home in places as diverse as Chile, Romania, Australia, Israel, and the United States. But what is home? We learn from this book that is many things. It is memory, loss, poetry, language, an illusion, a sand castle to be consumed by the time. But it is also the prosaic comforts that make it possible for women to think and dream -it is books, a laptop, a washing machine and watercolor landscapes on the wall. Sad and hopeful by turns, the stories and essays in thisn book will illuminate women's yearning to make their home in a place where the heart can speak."
Miriam Ben-Yoseph is Associate Professor at DePaul University's School for new learning and coeditor (with Mechtiild Hart) of Psychological, political and cultural meanings of home. Deborah Nodler Rosen is a poet and the editor of RHINO, an award winning poetry journal based in Evantston, Illinois.
