Shayna
Shayna by Miriam Ruth Black is a large print edition published by Kirk House Publishers on January 4, 2022. This novel unfolds in 1919 Ukraine, where a young woman named Shayna Rifkin hides from the Cossacks devastating her shtetl. As she faces the loss of everything familiar, Shayna’s determination to find safety drives her to embark on a perilous journey across Europe with her fiancé, his mother, and her four-year-old nephew, all in pursuit of a new life in America.
Readers will find an emotionally rich narrative steeped in the Yiddish culture of the shtetl and the Lower East Side of New York during the early 20th century. Shayna’s story highlights themes of courage and resilience amidst the backdrop of the great Jewish migration from Eastern Europe to the United States. This historical fiction offers a unique perspective on a significant period, focusing on the struggles and hopes of those seeking refuge and a fresh start in a new land. With 332 pages, this edition presents a compelling exploration of family and identity against the challenges of displacement.
Official synopsis Publisher
“From frozen ground, flowers grow…”
1919 Ukraine – In a small trunk in the corner of an abandoned shed a young woman huddles hiding from the Cossacks ravaging her shtetl, burning homes, and killing Jews. Shayna Rifkin, seventeen, loses everything. Desperate to find safety, she dreams of reaching America. Shayna rescues her four-year-old nephew and with her fiancé and his mother braves a perilous trek across Europe. Shayna’s courage and determination bind them together, weaving a strong fabric from their separate threads to make a family, a safe place from which to build a new life in a new country.
This emotionally rich novel is steeped in the Yiddish culture of the shtetl and the Lower East Side of New York in the early 20th century.
Winner Hackney Literary Award
With so much fiction devoted to the Holocaust, it is refreshing to read a historical novel about the period of the great Jewish migration from Eastern Europe to the New World. From the founding of HIAS, the Jewish refugee agency, from the 1880s – 1920s, millions of Jewish immigrants arrived in the U.S. There is hardly a Jewish family in the U.S. whose immigration is not rooted in that era. Few novels tell that story. It is all the more gratifying that this one, Shayna, tells it beautifully. From the moment I picked up Shayna’s saga, I was captivated and found myself caring deeply about her and her family. That is the test of a good novel – and this one passes with flying colors! Kudos to the author.
-Roberta Elliott, daughter of a refugee, and former VP of Communications, HIAS
I loved this book! It’s authentic, emotionally satisfying, and a compelling read.
-Bonnie Dimun, Executive Director, Museum at Eldridge Street
Miriam Ruth Black’s writing is stunning. “Shayna” draws readers into this epic story of one woman’s flight from the dark night of the pograms where death and tragedy propel her to take the unimaginable journey through Europe to the “Goldeneh Medina,” the Golden Land, as America was named by thousands of Eastern European Jews. Black has the talent and the heart to create a character and her story that readers will long remember. I loved this book!
Shelly Christensen
Author, “From Longing to Belonging.”
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