A COBBLER'S TALE
A huge wave of Eastern European migration is hitting the New World.
It's 1910. Pincus Potasznik, a Jewish cobbler, has left his pregnant wife and three small children to sail for America. His goal is to seek a new life for his family in the burgeoning Lower East Side of Manhattan.
On his traumatic voyage across the Atlantic on the SS Amerika steamship, Pincus meets Jakob Adler, a young man running from an accidental murder of a notorious crime boss in Warsaw. Opportunities await them in New York, but it's not an easy time for Jewish immigrants.
A few years later, while enjoying the spoils of his business and helped along with Jakob's unlawful contributions, Pincus realizes he made a terrible mistake. But the opportunity to return to his family has almost closed due to the outbreak of World War 1. Now he must face a decision, should he risk going back to Europe to rescue them from a war they could all die in, or is it better to wait in New York and build his fortune?
Born in a small shtetl in the province of Galicia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Pincus has yearned all his life for wealth and the freedom it will bring, but what price will he have to pay for his dreams?
As the bloody battles of World War I explodes within miles of the family home, in a small village called Krzywcza, Moshe, the son of Pincus and Clara Potasznik, discovers a divine ability to foretell dire events, and to offer comfort to those in pain, taking us deep into the world of ancient Jewish mysticism, known as the Kabbalah.
Will Pincus do the right thing? And can Moshe foresee what's to come for his own family?
A Cobbler’s Tale
By Neil Perry Gordon
Mesmerizing Jewish Historical Fiction Debut:
ONE DETERMINED FAMILY, TWO COUNTRIES:
A SURVIVAL STORY AGAINST A BACKDROP OF WAR AND
CORRUPTION IN 1910
Mysticism, adventure, struggle, and a family going beyond their limits to survive …welcome to the Neil Perry Gordon’s debut historical fiction release, A Cobbler’s Tale
This is the story of a young Jewish immigrant, Pincus Potasznik, a cobbler who leaves his pregnant wife Clara and their children behind in Eastern Europe’s Galicia region, in search of a better life, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Complete with fast-paced storylines, A Cobbler’s Tale immediately engages the reader on a wild ride, as it begins with Pincus’ treacherous voyage on the SS Amerika through the violent seas of the Atlantic. On the ship Pincus makes the acquaintance of hooligan Jakob Adler, a risk taker, who becomes Pincus’ partner-in-crime, and changes the immigrant’s story forever.
Attempting to make a life for himself in the United States, and later resettle his family, Pincus is unaware of the threats and adversity Clara and his children are facing back in their shtetl during World War 1.
As A Cobbler’s Tale weaves together two distinct stories of struggle from Clara to Pincus, the reader can enjoy dual, yet connected plot lines. Relatable to the present day immigration crisis of separated families escaping persecution for a better life, Gordon brilliantly exposes struggles any immigrant would face immersing into a new culture and country.
Moshe Potasznik, Pincus and Clara’s oldest son, adds an element of Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mysticism around his ability to foretell dire events, and to bring peace to those suffering. As the story is loosely based on true events, Moshe is Neil Perry Gordon’s grandfather.
Gordon adds, “My voice in A Cobbler’s Tale came from growing up in a multi-generational Jewish family. The small day-to-day intricacies of living with grandparents, who immigrated as children to America, provided me with a direct connection and an ability to tell their stories.”
A Cobbler's Tale is available in ebook, paperback, hardcover and audio.