This novel is a stunning story of a love affair between a successful Jewish married man and a beautiful Jewish woman. He knows her since childhood and she is deeply in love with him and refuses to marry anyone else. It is amazing to me that this was written by Rokhl Faygenberg in the year 1925 since the plot is indeed very contemporary. The novel is skillfully translated from Yiddish to English. When it was published in Warsaw, Poland in 1925, I can only imagine the startling reaction of readers! An exceptional event at that time, it was very unusual for a woman to publish a full-length novel especially one with such a controversial topic.

The author writes so well that as a reader you easily understand the feelings of the characters that live in this small shtetl town in Poland at the turn of the twentieth century. What is most charming about this book is that the author not only focuses on the lives of the two main characters Sheyndele and Boruk, but also skillfully develops many interesting characters whose lives are impacted by the decisions made by these two lovers.

When a railroad is introduced into the area and the town of Zabolotove grows around the railroad station the lives of the people in the surrounding countryside change significantly. Many are drawn to the city life and some even leave their families and their religion behind to embrace this newer society and feel comfortable mingling with their Christian neighbors. It is the juxtaposition of the characters' desires for worldliness and their difficulty in dismissing many of the rules of their religious life that creates exciting pathos in this well written novel. Basic beliefs are challenged and long standing traditions dismissed. "The people in Levi's office set the standard - they brought a touch of civilzed Europe to the old road and soon the people of Zabolotove wore fancy clothes and flaunted their silk upholstery, their luxurious coaches, their bicycles, even their cars." The introduction of the railroad made for easier travel and created a new generation of Jewish citizens who struggled to retain their Torah learning ways while seeking an easier life filled with material possessions that undermined their previously "simple" existence of study and sabbath celebration.

I have to commend both the author and the translator for making this novel so believable and so satisfying to read. If you are interested in Jewish history don't miss reading this book. Also, if you are unfamiliar with Judaism you will be captivated by this novel as it introduces the reader to believable characters in a setting enriched with details of every day life of rural Jewish people in Poland at a time when so many changes were taking place. "Strange Ways" is a charming book that offers a view into a world that many today are unfamiliar with and the author creates a love story that stings the heart but soothes the soul. ( )

Given the subject matter and my interest in Jewish literature and history I was motivated to like this book but was dissappointed at its unimaginative and boring writing. It is clear that the author poured all her feelings into the writing of this book but it fails the test of immersing the reader in the depth of those feelings. ( )

http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009/05/review-strange-ways-of-fremde-vegn-by.h... ( )

It is always fascinating to me when I come across a vintage photo that depicts a scene from 75 or 100 years ago. Who are these people? What was their relationship to each other? What were their lives like? What became of them?

I had the same feeling as I read “Strange Ways” by Rokhl Faygenberg. Written in Yiddish and published in 1925, the novel takes place in a small, rural Polish village at the beginning of the 20th century. The opening vintage photograph shows villagers who are tied much more closely to the previous century than to the forces of the 20th century about to bear down on them. As the story opens, the village is about to be connected to the larger world by a new railroad. These are “strange ways” indeed and we begin to get to the answer to the question “what became of them?”

Borukh, a young man of the village, takes advantage of the changing political and economic landscape. He is a rising businessman and although initially attracted to Sheyndel, marries a woman who is approved by his family. Sheyndel, a lovely woman and a favorite of her parents, was attracted to Borukh as well, and chooses not to accept her several suitors, instead nurtures her love for Borukh.

Thus the stage is set for the effect of “strange ways” to play out. The translation from Yiddish does not feel contemporary, but rather, supports Faygenberg’s perspective in 1925. The fact that she is one of the first woman to be published in Yiddish adds to that perspective and provides the reader valuable insight into the lives of the photo’s subjects. ( )

This is a rather late review for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Strange Ways is the first English translation of a short novel originally written in Yiddish, published in Poland in 1925. It was unusual in its day as a Yiddish novel written by woman.

Faygenberg tells the story of several families in a Jewish shtetl in turn of the Twentieth century Lithuania and their reactions to the coming of modern times embodied by a new local railway station. In Part I of the novel I was constantly reminded of Fiddler on the Roof as the plot centers around a father trying to find suitable matches for his daughters. The focus here is on the elder generation and the description has something of the feel of traditional storytelling.

Part II offers a significant break. The new railroad is in full operation, the focus shifts from the parents to the children and even the writing felt more stylistically modern. The story centers on the love affair between the two main characters of the younger generation, Sheyndel and Borukh. Faygenberg seems rather pessimistic about the benefits of modernity for women. The old ways, as represented by Sheyndel's parents are hardly idyllic, but neither is Sheyndel and Borukh's relationship close to one of equality.

Toward the end, Sheyndel does devise perhaps the most creative response I've ever seen to the problem of being kept as a mistress by a man who never fulfills his endless promises to leave his wife. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the author hurries us into her rather bluntly tragic conclusion.

I enjoyed the style of Strange Ways and the image the author created of life in a Jewish shtetl on the brink of modernity, but in the end the book was simply too short to fully develop all of the interesting ideas that it introduced. Still, it was certainly worth the read. ( )