Books like Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman
During the summer of 1976, Kaaterskill—a small upstate New York town—hosts a unique mix of Orthodox Jews and Yankee year‑rounders. The Shulman family, led by devout mother Elizabeth and her five daughters, seeks meaning beyond their insular community. Nearby, Andras Melish is drawn to the town by his older sisters, who immigrated after the Holocaust, and struggles with his own family dynamics. On the hill, Rav Elijah Kirshner faces the end of his life and the challenge of choosing a successor between his pious son Isaiah and his worldly son Jeremy. Meanwhile, Judge Miles Taylor and local real‑estate broker Michael King are quietly shaping the town’s future, each carrying hidden secrets and concerns about Kaaterskill’s development.
The novel examines tradition and change, the complexities of faith, and the tensions arising when different cultural worlds intersect in a brief but intense seasonal period.
First publish date: 1998
Genre: Religious & Spiritual Fiction/Religious Fiction
Authors: Allegra Goodman
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