AustLit

'An enthralling, entertaining and compelling collection of short stories that follow the great Yiddish storytelling traditions in tone and style: tackling life’s questions, big and banal, with an evocative, humorous and thought-provoking authority. In each one, Fein excels in drawing the reader into another reality, to experience, to become part of the story and the characters’ lives as they unfold.' (Publication summary)

'It was only a tiny lump in her throat. It felt like nothing at all ' really. But Rachel's otherwise pretty comfortable life is suddenly turned upside down. It isn't fair. She's so strong and healthy; she's an athlete. Then there are tests and hospitals and nurses and doctors and all sorts bother that she didn't ask for, and she wouldn't wish on anyone. And no-one really seems to be able to help.

'Then she meets Rick, who is nothing like her - but, he also - is.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The novel, set in contemporary Melbourne. tells the tale of a charismatic New York rabbi who arrives with his guitar and a beautiful voice. He teaches sweet, seductive Torah to the wild and vulnerable youth of Melbourne, brought up on an austere diet of Holocaust survival and Zionism. In introducing the mysteries of Kabalah, among other questionable activities, he causes havoc and even death.

'Freddie Rose, a 30-something wealthy woman, is both beguiled and repelled by the rabbi, and when she finds the diaries of an old friend who was the rabbi's assistant, she begins a path of discovery.

'The narrative explores the cult of personality, the causes and effects of spiritual hunger and tries to identify the fine line between good and evil, sacred and profane. Must Freddie betray the rabbi who has helped her emerge from her own darkness, or does all the palpable good he has done outweigh his sins? Ultimately she unravels these conundrums and finds a solution which, in the most unlikely of circumstances, also allows her to find love.' (Publisher's blurb)

'April Taub is no-one’s nice Jewish girl. Although it is the 1960’s,Vietnam is still not much more than a dark twinkle in Robert Menzies’ eye and April doesn’t give a flying fundament about peace, pot or flower-power

'Given to over-indulgence in sex, smoked salmon on rye, vodka, Marlboro Reds and anguish, this daughter of Holocaust survivors has a day-job as a journalist and moonlights as a covert hunter of Nazi war-criminals.

'She unwittingly sleeps with the enemy and blows her own cover, placing her entire organization at risk. Now she is forced to choose between a witness protection program or taking on a new identity which will enable her to infiltrate the black society of her adversaries. Out in the field, she stumbles onto a nationwide conspiracy of people-trafficking and the concealment of unspeakable war crimes.'

Source: Author's website.