Product Description

The narrow street on which Harry Bernstein grew up was seemingly unremarkable; there was nothing to distinguish it from the hundreds of other such working class streets in the industrial north of England - save for an invisible wall down the middle, dividing Jews on one side, from Christians on the other. The geographical distance may have been a couple of yards, but socially, it was miles. But there are few rules or unwritten laws that are not broken when circumstances demand, and few distances that are not too great to be travelled; and such was the case on our street. And I was to play an important part, unwittingly, in what happened. "The Invisible Wall" is the enchanting, true story of Harry's childhood in the mill town of Stockport in the shadow of the First World War. It's a wonderfully charming - and powerfully moving - tale of working class life, of social divide and of forbidden love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #466547 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
A debut by a nonagenarian who recalls a Romeo-and-Juliet story involving his older, Jewish sister and a Christian boy from across the street.Bernstein demands that readers suspend more than disbelief; they must also disengage all skepticism, all critical thinking. His memoir offers no specific dates (we know only that we are in the era of World War I), no documentation, no photocopies, no way for an interested (or dubious) reader to verify any of this story. And what a story. When he is four years old, living in a Lancashire mill town, the author serves as a sort of Huck Finn intermediary, carrying secret love messages between two local lovers (Jewish girl, Christian boy). The author's father is a sort of Pap Finn, too - drunken, sullen, occasionally violent. When his daughter wins a scholarship, he goes off on a rant about education and drags her by the hair to the tailor's shop where she must labor beside him. The author's mother, by contrast, is archetypal - patient, hardworking, loving, forgiving. When he is 11, the author discovers that his sister, Lily, is secretly meeting with her forbidden boyfriend, Arthur - and that they are planning to elope. He goes along with them, then returns later to inform his family. All in the neighborhood - Christians and Jews - are angry. But then Lily has a baby; there is a block party for the new arrival, and the little child unites the residents. Two things that trouble: (1) much of the story is presented in verbatim dialogue, including, when the narrator is ten, a long debate about Socialism at the dinner table; (2) the author is always where he needs to be. A neighborhood suicide? He's there. Key letters from Mom to relatives? He writes as Mom dictates.Seems less a memoir, more an autobiographical novel. Caveat lector. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
96-year-old Harry Bernstein emigrated to the USA with his family after the first world war. He has written all his life, but started writing THE INVISIBLE WALL following the death of his wife, Ruby, three years ago. He lives in Brick, New Jersey, and is now at work on his second book.

Customer Reviews

The Invisible Wall
This is a wonderful book. It works on at least four levels: it is a gripping autobiographical account of growing up in a northern town in the early 1900s; it is an intensely moving love story; it hammers home the stupidity of the way we have allowed meaningless religious differences between us to affect the way we treat each other; and it makes us realise that, in this regard at least, we have learned nothing in the last 100 years. I could not put it down ... it is the best read I've had in years.

Captivating memoir
I have read a lot of memoirs in the last few years and i would rate this book as one of the best i have read. It is the story of the first 12 years of Harry Bernstein's life in Stockport in the early part of the last century and covers huge themes, such as poverty, deprivation, prejudice and social stigmas but in a really accessible and ultimately uplifting style, even though some elements of the story are tragic in the true sense of the word. I could not put it down and would have read it in one sitting if i could. The last few chapters took my breath away and it achieved a rare thing, in that by the end of it, i really cared about what eventually happened to the characters. I am pleased to say that Mr Bernstein is working on the sequel and hopefully i will find out! i cannot rate this highly enough. A gem.

Moving, Heart warming, True-Life Family Story
Harry Bernstein was born in 1910 and this book tells his story of growing up in an industrial town in the North of England. The youngest child, Harry has two sisters, academic Lily and waspish Rose, two brothers, Saul and Harry as well as a loving mother - and a sullen drunk for a father.

The prominent issue in this book is the fact that the street in which Harry and his family reside is divided along religeous lines - Jews on one side, Christians on the other - with next to no interaction between the two sides, despite the similarities of their lives and even their work. Although the grinding poverty in which the family struggle to survive is detailed thoroughly, the individuals in the family are prominent to the story, none more that Lily - whose chance to go to Grammar school on a scholarship hinges on her mother persauding her oaf of a husband to sign a consent form. Sister Rose is discontented with life and sees the hand to mouth existence of her family for what it is - no amount of bravado from her mother will cause Rose to think fondly of her life. Harry follows in the wake of his brothers as they encounter playground battles with the Christian children and day to day insults from adults who should have known better.

There is humour in the book all the same. Harry is a completely innocent go-between for an invalid girl and her would-be beau (the notes you can pass in a bottle of ginger beer!) but love across the religeous divide is more than either side can accept, and, although the first World War causes the women on both sides to mourn their losses together, the barriers cannot be completely torn down.

I am no fan of "misery memoirs" as a style of book but this tale is so gripping, tragic and yet courageous that it is almost impossible to put down. I have even written to the author via the publisher to say thanks for a great read - and please hurry along with the next one!

The Invisible Wall will break your heart, make you smile - and stay with you long after you read the final sentence.