Horodno Burning by Michael Freed Thall is a rich historical fiction novel that's begins in 1860 in czarist Russia with a story set in a Jewish community. Esther Leving is a brilliant feminist who is fortunate enough to be supported in her love for books and her dislike of male dominance by her mother and uncle although she meets numerous challenges which drive the novel. Not only are readers introduced to Esther and her family, but they are introduced to Bernard Garfinkle who follows his father's business as a vodka distiller. He is burdened by a deep, shameful secret:. He can't read. Even though Esther owns a bookstore and Bernard can't read, opposites attract and they fall in love and marry. They have two children in a time when Russian Jews face ferocious pograms and the Czar's decrees designed to control Jews.

The novel drags occasionally as it reveals seemingly unnecessary details, but fortunately the main plot line is strong enough to prevail letting readers feel the strong emotions and tension in the conflicts. At times the novel is quite predictable, but often that's comforting. There are several twists in the plot that really provide surprises.

The plot with its emotions, twists and tension reflect a common history of Jewish families flight to America. Horodno Burning stands as a tribute to human persistence, courage, resilience, and the power of books. It's a timeless tribute to people's passion for freedom. In short, I highly recommend this rich, compassionate novel. ( )

*I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

Prior to reading this book, I knew that nineteenth-century Russia had a Jewish population and that those people lived with restrictions and the threat of violence. This novel, through the characters of Bernard and Estes, brought to life what living in Horodno meant for Jewish people. Bernard and Estes are both distinctive characters and they manage to build a good life for themselves and their children, before forces beyond their control threat everything. Overall, I found this book to be compelling and heart-wrenching at times and hope there is more historical fiction like this to be discovered. ( )

"Horodno Burning" by Michael Freed-Thall is a long story with many rich details. It can be a bit pedantic at times, but it can serve as a good piece of historical fiction that teaches about Jewish life in Eastern Europe. I was interested in this book because of my interest in the tragic history of Jewish life in Eastern Europe.

The book is based on Freed-Thall's own family tales. There seems to be a bit of genealogy here. He mixes in plenty of well-researched history that is not directly related to the story. According to the author, he has taken freely from his research to reconstruct a community in the Pale of Settlement, the segregated area of the Russian Empire where Jews were under constant threat of pogrom.

Behind the historical details, "Horodno Burning" is an unlikely love story in which two nearly opposite people fall in love and make a life together.

Perhaps I was jealous of one of the love interests, Esther. Despite not being allowed to attend the local Yeshiva, Esther teaches herself to read and analyze serious world literature before the age of five. She also learns six languages before turning fifteen, and then opens a book store in a tiny shtetl with the help of her illiterate and conservative husband.

There is a long list of novels published about the Pale of Settlement, both from authors who lived through it and authors writing historical fiction, like Freed-Thall. Readers who enjoy a bit of romantic love with their historical fiction might enjoy this book.

I read "Horodno Burning" as an advanced reader copy. ( )

Esther is a bibliophile, and woman of strength against the odds thrown upon her, living in the Pale of Settlement. She meets and marries Bernard, a caring man, but a man who cannot read. She teaches him to read.

The story line is one filled with their love for each other, and the trials and triumphs they encounter. It is also a story that is a testament to the survival of the Jews under oppressive conditions, and also a testament to books, and literature as a whole. It is also a testament to involvement of the forceful dynamics in trying to attain freedom, in a world that contains that ideal.

This should be in every college/university library, and in personal libraries.

Thank you to LibraryThing and its Early Reviewers, along with Rootstock Publishing for my ARC. ( )

In this novel, the author has woven family lore concerning his great great grandparents over a span of some 40 years. Because they are Jews they live in the Pale of Settlement, the religious Bernard and secular Esther [pet name Estes]. They are married, have children, and Bernard builds a bookstore for his bibliophile wife from the ruins of Estes's mentor's ruined house. They endure the years of repression and pogroms along with devoted friends and family, finally, when conditions become too horrific, they are smuggled out of Russia, reaching America, where they live out their later life. This was a poignant picture of shtetl life, easily the best part of this book and possibly representative of Jewish immigrants who came to this country at that time. ( )