This novel takes you a century back in time to live among Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the United States, only a few years before the appalling events of the great depression and the holocaust.

Sholom Asch originally wrote it in Yiddish, masterfully depicting the everyday-lives of Jewish immigrants in America, their traditions, values, dialect, and even religious rituals and business activities. Reading this novel gives insight on how Jews blended into society pre-holocaust, from an insider's perspective.

It's a story of love and hate, forced marriage, the earliest traces of feminism, and the painful truth of why money can't buy happiness. It was later adapted into a movie with the same name, considered to be a precious gem of Jewish culture.

"He had resolved firmly upon marrying Masha, - the eighteen-year-old maiden whose education he had paid for."

"She considered herself a sacrifice to the welfare of her parents, her sisters, her relatives, and all the townsfolk."