Read by Lorna Raver

Three generations of Roths live together in a crowded tenement flat. Long-widowed Manya is the family's head and its heart. She's renowned throughout the neighborhood for her cooking, and every noontime the front room of the flat turns into Manya's private restaurant. But Manya is no soft touch, except, perhaps, where her granddaughter Elka is concerned. Precocious Elka is her closest companion and confidante. Through Elka's eyes we come to know the fascinating characters who move in and out of the Roths' lives. Money may have been short but opinions were not, and their tart tongues and lively humor abound. In this riveting story lies the heart of the American immigrant experience: a novel at once wise, funny, poignant, anguishing, exultant, and bursting with love. "Widmer's novel of mixed emotions focuses on the Roths, especially family matriarch Manya Roth, and the manner in which they infuse their tenement and neighborhood with warmth and Raver's reading allows the characters, a term that is equally noun and adjective, to shine through with distinctive and realistic personalities. In particular, Raver captures the strength of Manya Roth and the youthful optimism of her granddaughter, Elke. As a result, Raver not only gives life to the book, she also succeeds in reading with a joy that sustains the listener's interest." "Poignant snapshot of a long-lost era and place…[This] first novel offers pungent, nostalgic vignettes of Jewish life on Manhattan's Lower East Side."

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