Texas Jewish Post (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 2020 Page: 3 of 12
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TEXAS JEWISH POST $ SINCE 1947
October 1,2020 I 3
THE
LAST
KINGS
OF
SHANGHAI
Rachel Beanland
Linda Blasnik is a Dallas-area librarian.
8
1
*
i(
—
BEST
2020
k
keyteamdallas.com
keyteam@keyteamdallas.com
JONATHAN KAUFMAN
D
I I
H AY M A NN/SAVA R I EGO
L
Chag Sameach!
May you be blessed with good health on Sukkot and this new year!
Tycher Book Club: Meets
monthly on first Mondays,
10-11:30 a.m., via Zoom.
Oct. 5: "The Book ofV," by Anna
Solomon
Nov. 2: "Florence Adler Swims
Forever," by Rachel Beanland
Dec. 7:"Wandering Dixie:
Dispatches from the Lost Jewish
South," by Sue Eisenfeld
Phot Courtesy Viking/Penguin Random House
"This nonfiction book reads like a great
novel and is tough to put down," the
CJE's project coordinator for the Center
for Jewish Education, Karen Schlosberg,
said of "The Last Kings of Shanghai: The
Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped
Create Modern China," to be featured
Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Tycher Library's
14th Annual Fall Community Read. "It's
captivating, intriguing and the lasting
impact of these families is something to
be proud of."
THE RIVALJEWISH DYNASTIES
THAT HELPED CREATE
MODERN CHINA
A.
Allie Beth Allman" & Associates
A BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY AFFILIATE
JULIE
214.625.9504
LAUREN
214.682.5088
-«!>
Florence Adler Swims Forever1:
a novel by Rachel Beanland
interest to other Asian countries.
For Community Read details and
event registration, visit jewishdallas.
org/tycherlibrary or email kschlosberg
@jewishdallas.org. For complete
listings and registration for the 2020-
2021JCC BookFest, visitjccdallas.org.
I
fundamental impossibility, to
protect the unborn generation
and to undo errors that may
or may not have been of the
parent’s own making.
I recommend this book
to anyone who has ever had
a parent, been a parent or is
even considering becoming
a parent. Beanland’s ability
to reach into the heads and
hearts of people she knew and
share them with her readers is
a gift that she gives to us and,
eventually, to her family and
herself. Florence Adler swims
forever, indeed, and that image
shines, even after we turn the
last page.
Reviewed by Linda Blasnik
Congratulations to
Rachel Beanland on
her debut novel, which
will be the Tycher
Book Club read for
November. She has
told a story based on
one she has heard from
her family quite often.
Using the points of view of
multiple characters, some truly
drawn and others not so, she
turns her family story into so
much more than a beach read.
The place is Atlantic City,
New Jersey, and the year is
1934. True that I did not begin
to visit Atlantic City with my
parents until 1958. Yet, author
Beanland has researched the
place so accurately and writes
with such attention to detail
that I could hear the seagulls
and smell the Coppertone!
The tale is told through points
of view of the characters with
such tenderness that we almost
forget that the titular character
does not live past Chapter 1!
Beanland has a special gift
as a writer of getting into the
- ’ *
-
The Boston Globe. Much time spent
in China, Kaufman recalls fondly 20
years ago, was the years there with
his wife, news anchor and reporter
Barbara Howard, and their children:
Ben, Molly and Nick.
Today in Shanghai there are five
synagogues, now museums, and
less than 300 Jews — primarily
American, European and Israeli
expatriates and businesspeople.
“This is a great story of these
families, hugely influential
intellectually, economically and
culturally,” said Kratz. “This book
is a convergence of Judaism and
Chinese culture, the West and the
East in a presentation of the good
and distressing sides of people,
and the powerful understanding
of how cultures can join in respect
and valuing one another. Anything
that helps Americans understand
the complexities of the East is
important.”
Thirteen years ago, then the
dean of Arts and Humanities at
UTD, Kratz welcomed a delegation
from China to the university.
With their encouragement, Kratz
founded the university’s Confucius
Institute to promote knowledge and
understanding of Chinese culture.
Becoming fascinated with the
culture, art, history and literature,
he visited the country twice a year,
for many years, then expanded his
£3
heads of each of her
narrators. She also has
the ability to show, not
tell, the frustrations
and frank abrasions
that family can create,
her
faith
as
(
T\ M.
Nevertheless,
portrayal of
sustains the family
well as the readers.
The author brings the
deceased protagonist to life
by weaving a tapestry from
the recollections of family
and friends. When Florence’s
swim coach attempts to show
what he loved about Florence,
his admiration is palpable. “I
suppose I loved how brave she
was...and capable. There was
almost nothing she wouldn’t
or couldn’t do...You felt lucky
if you got the chance to watch
her make a sandwich.”
One overarching theme of
the book is the lengths a parent
will go to protect a child,
even when that is not actually
possible. Beanland allows
the readers to glimpse the
heartache of a parent who tries,
in the face of deep pain and
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Wisch-Ray, Sharon. Texas Jewish Post (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 2020, newspaper, October 1, 2020; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1305762/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .