Not Our Kind

September 3, 2018
The pseudonymous Zeldis masterfully transports readers to 1947 New York to depict the relationships that develop between a young Jewish woman and a Protestant family. Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy run into each other—or rather, their cabs collide—on Park Avenue, and the elegant Patricia invites the job-seeking Eleanor to her high-end apartment to help the young woman recover from the jolt. Patricia’s 13-year-old daughter, Margaux, an angry polio survivor who walks with the aid of a stick, is immediately drawn to Eleanor’s intelligent, forthright demeanor, and Eleanor finds young Margaux equally appealing. Patricia is also intrigued by Eleanor, even though she has “never entertained a Jew in her apartment before.” Eleanor, a Vassar grad, is hired to tutor Margaux in the Bellamy home, but Patricia’s bigoted husband, Wynn, is resistant to the idea. Eleanor accompanies the family on a summer retreat in Connecticut to continue working with Margaux, and passions begin to rise between Eleanor and Tom, Patricia’s brother, who joins the family in their summer home after a stint in France. Lively descriptions of 1940s clothing and culture complement the realistic characters. This is a vivid, winning novel.

September 1, 2018
A young Jewish teacher and a WASPy married woman find an unexpected connection in post-World War II New York.Eleanor Moskowitz is used to experiencing anti-Semitism. On the job hunt after a disastrous romance caused her to leave her last teaching position, she's advised to change her name to Eleanor Moss so as not to worry potential employers. But then, on the way to a job interview, her cab is hit. It isn't a serious accident, but the other cab's passenger, Patricia Bellamy, insists on taking Eleanor home with her so she can freshen up. It's there that Eleanor meets Patricia's daughter, Margaux, a polio survivor who recently scared off a tutor with her surly attitude. Margaux takes a liking to Eleanor and asks Patricia if she can be her tutor. Patricia, who rarely interacts with Jewish people, doesn't know what her stodgy husband and her status-obsessed friends will think. Still, she hires Eleanor, and Margaux begins to flourish. Eleanor, who still lives with her mother above a hat shop and has never had much money, is sucked into the Bellamys' world of glamour and privilege. But when Eleanor begins a romance with Patricia's bohemian brother, Tom, things start to get complicated. Could Eleanor ever really be part of the Bellamys' world, or is she just too different? Zeldis paints a vivid picture of two separate New Yorks in the 1940s--Eleanor's shabby clothes and budget meals versus Patricia's fancy dresses and staff-prepared dinners. Their twin journeys toward independence--Eleanor's from her mother and Patricia's from her husband--show that no matter how much money a woman had, she was still constrained by the misogyny and stifling gender roles of the time.A compelling tale of friendship, class, prejudice, and love.

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September 1, 2018
A fender bender puts Eleanor Moskowitz in the Park Avenue apartment of Patricia Bellamy, where she makes an immediate connection with her mercurial daughter, Margaux. Patricia is impressed?Margaux has been impossible since polio destroyed one of her legs. So even though she knows her husband, Wynn, will object because Eleanor is Jewish, she hires her as a tutor. Soon they are summering in tony Connecticut, joined by Patricia's free-spirited brother, Tom, who is immediately charmed by Eleanor's frankness and compassion. But Eleanor is always cognizant of the class politics and religious prejudice?Patricia convinces her to use the last name Moss, and, after a run-in with a drunk Wynn, not even her affection for Margaux can make her stay. The first novel from pseudonymous Zeldis uses the rich details of postwar New York?the music, the clothes, the cocktails?to tell the story of two women looking for fulfillment. For Patricia, it is with her family; for Eleanor, it is harder to define. College-educated and independent-minded, Eleanor speaks to a generation of women raised with conflicting expectations, and the somewhat-ambiguous ending suits her story perfectly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)