{"product_id":"the-winding-road-my-childhood-years","title":"The Winding Road: My Childhood Years","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBy Rokhl Feygenberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTranslated by Tamara T. Helfer\u003cbr\u003eSyracuse University Press\u003cbr\u003ePublished in 2026\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e280 pages, 5 x 8 in\u003cbr\u003ePaperback\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"mobile-about-the-book\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"slot product-about 9780394536460 isbn-related seemoreenable show opened\" id=\"seemore-0\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"overview\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRokhl Feygenberg became one of the youngest authors published in Yiddish when her autobiographical debut novel\u003cu\u003e,\u003c\/u\u003e originally called \u003ci\u003eMy Childhood Years\u003c\/i\u003e, was released serially in 1905. This fictionalized account of her own rough childhood in a small Belarusian shtetl in the 1890s is framed by the deaths of her father when she was five and that of her mother when she was fourteen. Forced to provide and care for her family, the narrator finds escape through books and is inspired by them to invent an alternate fantasy life for herself, transforming the challenges of her everyday into a dreamscape world of city life and romance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Tamara T. Helfer’s masterful translation, the narrator describes her fictional village of Bulin, deep in wild swampland and forests, far away from the world of books where she finds solace. Readers are enmeshed in the daily rituals of rural Jewish life, following the narrator through her long days of labor and caring for family. Her story, at times funny, at times full of pathos, is a clear-eyed description of youthful imaginings with three-dimensional, flawed characters, and vivid descriptions of everyday shtetl life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Winding Road \u003c\/i\u003epresents an unvarnished portrait of nineteenth-century Jewish life and offers readers a deeper understanding of the vast distance turn-of-the-century women traveled to find a fully realized life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlease note this book has limited availability.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eItems ship in 3-5 business days.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"YIVO Institute for Jewish Research","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47805894459610,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0648\/4587\/3370\/files\/71fbP2-iP9L._SL1440.jpg?v=1777322110","url":"https:\/\/yivo-institute.myshopify.com\/products\/the-winding-road-my-childhood-years","provider":"YIVO Institute for Jewish Research","version":"1.0","type":"link"}