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Book Reviews & Giveaway: Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English

Author: Natasha Solomons
Every once in a while, a novel crosses the line from novel to literature.  Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons sheers through that line.

Caught in a time warp, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum and their infant daughter Elizabeth leave Berlin and immigrate to London. Arriving at Harwich in 1937, Jack is given a pamphlet on how to assimilate into English society.  He notes that invisibility will protect him and Sadie and Elizabeth and immediately primes himself to become a Jewish-English proper gentleman.  The pamphlet becomes his god and his mantra, and he continuously adds to its contents as he experiences adversity.

Ironically, Jack is a man of dreams, and invisibility is Sadie’s forte, not Jack’s.  Faced with bigotry in a country known by its snobbishness, Jack never loses stride.  He establishes a carpet company and becomes rich, and then decides to take Sadie to Dorset, a small provincial English town and build a golf course, since no English golf courses will allow him admittance.

Funny and poignant, we almost feel that we are stepping into E. Annnie Proulx in The Shipping News.  A story set against the milieu of immigrants, dreams and sheer determination, Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English sweeps us into 1940’s England, with a 5’3” man who dares to dare.  Ironically, Jack stands out because he is not only Jewish but different, and it is Sadie who falls into the sorrow of invisibility.
Dazzling narrative provides the structure for a novel that shimmers with Jack’s unstoppable optimism and Sadie’s grief upon leaving her former life and family, who she now knows are dead.  While Sadie does Kaddish for her relatives, Jack plows into Dorset and fights for respect and help from his fellow Dorset countrymen to build the impossible.  Jack Bassett, the leader of the Dorset town, defies him – then becomes his ally.  Curtis, an old man who believes in the Dorset woolly-pig, becomes Jack’s best friend and supporter.  Jack begins to write weekly letters to Bobby Jones, the great American golfer, for advice.  He never hears back, but keeps writing.
Jack and Sadie grow apart as Sadie yearns for her old life and ways in Berlin.  Jack’s obsession with the golf course tears them apart.  When Sadie almost dies, Jack realizes his great love for Sadie, and they become true partners as the golf course encounters problem after problem.  They invest every penny in the course, letting Jack’s carpet business flounder.  To soothe herself, Sadie bakes cooks and gardens to remind her of her heritage.

The integration of the Rose-in-Blooms into Dorset proves both comical and heart rending.  A coming of age novel, a novel of assimilation, a novel of huge dreams and strange Dorset myths, Jack becomes the Uber Man and Sadie his Madonna.  Sweeping and poignant, Jack Rosenblum stands alone as heroic and unstoppable, like Molly Brown, and the story blooms as vividly as Sadie’s rosebushes and challah.  An absolutely marvelous novel, with writing that spare no amount of talent on Ms. Solomons’ part.  Exquisite.

 Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English: A Novel is available in bookstores nationwide.

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale

Overall: 5

Review by Broad “A” – Ava

We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own. 

GIVEAWAY




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Comments

  1. I to have read and truly enjoyed this book, I felt sad for Jack when he found out about the other golf course, but then elated when he returned home and found the completed golf course on his property.

    Reply

  2. I to have read and truly enjoyed this book, I felt sad for Jack when he found out about the other golf course, but then elated when he returned home and found the completed golf course on his property.

    Reply

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