I was deeply disappointed in this book. It certainly is unusual. A transliteration from Yiddish into English, the language takes a little getting used to, but what was even more difficult for me was the heavy-handed nature of the messaging. The story does not develop naturally from the characters, but rather, the author has superimposed a story onto the characters. You have the Russian Jew born in the Ghetto and the upperclass Puritan standing in for their separate classes, trying to love one another and blend their lives, and failing. The solution, apparently, is for each to stick to their own kind, while recognizing that we are all human after all. It was all too trite and silly for me. ( )