Kitty Zeldis's insightful third historical novel, One of Them, explores the complexities of Jewish identity through the lives of two young women in the years after World War II.
As a student at Vassar College in 1946, Anne Bishop is determined to hide that she's Jewish from the other students, who often make antisemitic remarks within earshot. But Anne is drawn to Delia Goldhush, a confident, sophisticated fellow student whose Jewish identity is public knowledge. When Anne participates in an act of cruelty against Delia, their tentative friendship shatters. However, the girls reconnect unexpectedly in Paris, where they both become involved in finding information about Delia's sculptor mother, Sophie, who went missing during the war. Zeldis's narrative follows both young women to Palestine, where the 1948 declaration of Israel as a Jewish state sends tensions flaring.
Zeldis (The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights) shifts between Anne's and Delia's perspectives, delving into Anne's grief and isolation following her father's death and Delia's wartime escape from Paris with her own father. Delia is shocked to discover her mother is still alive, and her search for Sophie will bring other uncomfortable truths to light. Anne wants to atone for her actions by helping Delia find her mother; her time abroad also challenges her worldview in other ways. Both young women return to the U.S. with changed perspectives: on Judaism, families, and their own future career paths. One of Them is a thoughtful chronicle of growth and friendship, and an examination of several facets of Jewish identity. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams