For Book Beginnings:
When Grandpa came to live with us, he brought the White Magician with him. Holly and I were children, still excited for a night of checkers and pizza on those Saturdays when our parents went out to the nice restaurant in our little town off the turnpike. Tell us a story! we would cry, tucked beneath our blankets in the room we shared. Tell us a story about the White Magician!
- p. 1 (ARC, page may change)
"Careful, careful," the old man said. He had a slight accent. "We must remember our sorrows, not drown them."
- p. 56 (ARC, page may change)
Synopsis of The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman: The Tiger’s Wife meets A History of Love in this inventive, lushly imagined debut novel that explores the intersections of family secrets, Jewish myths, the legacy of war and history, and the bonds between sisters. When Eli Burke dies, he leaves behind a mysterious notebook full of stories about a magical figure named The White Rebbe, a miracle worker in league with the enigmatic Angel of Losses, protector of things gone astray, and guardian of the lost letter of the alphabet, which completes the secret name of God. When his granddaughter, Marjorie, discovers Eli’s notebook, everything she thought she knew about her grandfather—and her family—comes undone. To find the truth about Eli’s origins and unlock the secrets he kept, she embarks on an odyssey that takes her deep into the past, from 18th century Europe to Nazi-occupied Lithuania, and back to the present, to New York City and her estranged sister Holly, whom she must save from the consequences of Eli’s past. Interweaving history, theology, and both real and imagined Jewish folktales, The Angel of Losses is a family story of what lasts, and of what we can—and cannot—escape. - p. 56 (ARC, page may change)