Elizabeth Graver, "Kantika: A Novel" (Metropolitan Books, 2023)

New Books in Literature · Aug 1, 2023 · 29m

Today I talked to Elizabeth Graver about her new novel Kantika (Metropolitan Books, 2023). Rebecca Cohen and her family live in Istanbul, until they lose all their wealth and are forced to leave. It’s also no longer safe for Jews, and many are trying to find a place to go. Rebecca’s father, once a successful businessman, now cleans a synagogue in Barcelona. Rebecca finds work as a seamstress and marries a man who is barely at home. He later dies, leaving her with two young sons to raise on her own, but she’s already started her own business. A second marriage is arranged, but she has to get…