07 Dec / Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis [in Booklist]
Class, gender, and religious differences in post-WWII Manhattan drive this debut novel from the pseudonymous Zeldis in which two worlds literally collide in the opening chapter. Caught in a fender bender, Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy emerge from their respective taxis in a rare chance meeting. Vassar-educated Eleanor is a Russian working-class immigrant’s daughter – and Jewish; wealthy WASP socialite Patricia is used to easy privilege. The incident becomes the impetus for Patricia to hire Eleanor as a private tutor for her polio-challenged daughter, Margaux, pulling Eleanor into a luxurious orbit, albeit tainted by racism, disparity, and abuse.
Tavia Gilbert effortlessly adapts to voicing two protagonists whose differences in background progressively lessen as both women search for fulfillment beyond society’s expectations. Gilbert’s aural adjustments complement mother-daughter growing pains, a father’s kindness that masks a petulant husband and threatening employer, ladies-who-lunch light conversations, vulnerable confessions, and so much more. Broad audiences will discover Not Our Kind to be wholly their kind. Thoroughly entertaining but with stinging, resonating reminders of inequity and loss.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, December 1, 2018
Readers: Adult
Published: 2018