Found Treasures-ebook : Stories by Yiddish Women Writers

"Found Treasures is truly a groundbreaking collection and heartwarmingly brilliant statement about Yiddish women writers' creativity despite all the barriers and culturally imposed silences."

"This volume speaks of history and experience almost lost to Yiddish-speaking people. The editors, realizing that the experiences of their foremothers had been left out of history books, have rectified the omission in this volume. In tracking down, translating, and editing these stories, for themselves and for others who will grow by reading them, they have made a valuable contribution."

"I am grateful to those who made this book available, for not only did it give me many hours of pleasure, it also instructed me in becoming acquainted with an area of life and literature that had been unknown to me."

"These eighteen writers speak powerfully of the events in their lives, and for the first time in English prose provide us with a much fuller picture of what Yiddish-speaking women were like and their nearly forgotten female heritage."

"What has been unearthed in 'Found Treasures' are the canvases of lost worlds... In giving these writers a long-overdue voice in English, Klepfisz and her stable of four editors and eight translators have enabled them to reach across time, successfully crossing cultures, continents and, yes, even gender."

"It reflects real, problematic, untidy lives in a sometimes horrific and terrifying world where women, for all their difficulties, found the courage to write wonderfully honest stories that speak to us across the generations."

"Irena Klepfisz's forty-page introduction 'Queens of Contradiction,' provides an astonishing contextualization of the work of these writers and of the reasons for its obscurity."

"If there is one pervasive objective in these eloquent stories, it is death to the patriarchy as sole legitimate heir to the Yiddish literary tradition from the 16th century on. What surprises is how light and enthralling the stories are."

"The selections in Found Treasures mark the persistence of Yiddish women's writing across decades and continents."

"Found Treasures stands as a groundbreaking historical document."

"What stands out most in this book is the authors' indomitable will to life, and the power of their words to evoke it."

"The stories provide access to the interior as well as exterior aspects to the life of Jewish women, and do so with literary and esthetic value. They are also very readable. The vibrancy and poignancy of these writers' voices have been faithfully, often brilliantly, translated into English by the 15 women involved in creating the book."

"Compelling introduction by poet and critic, Irena Klepfisz."

The translations, incidentally, merit the highest praise: they do not read or sound as translations."

"Found Treasures is a book of remembrance, of inspiration, celebration, and continuity."

"I am delighted by this book, and grateful for the complementary material which contextualizes and enriches it: Irena Klepfisz's incisive historical analysis, the headnotes, the biographies and bibliographies."

"An extraordinary anthology of Yiddish prose... A moving collection of 18 short stories that finally gives a voice to the Jewish women who labored, suffered and loved in the shtetls of Eastern Europe, the sweatshops of New York and the green fields of pre-state Palestine."

"An extraordinary collection of prose — including short fiction and autobiography — which provides a social and historical look at Jewish women's lives during the last century."

"Puts Yiddish women writers on the map and will hopefully encourage more exploration of Yiddish culture, and more translation of women authors."

"A detailed introduction and biographical notes, as well as thoughtful headnotes for each story, provide the narratives with useful historical background."