Giving Up America

By Pearl Abraham

The first thing Deena and Daniel do in their new house in Brooklyn is take down the smoked mirrors that cover the windows and living room doors. The former owners said they were needed for privacy. The next morning Deena comes down the stairs and sees a triangle of light – sun shining through a leaded glass window.

The next six months shed new light on her seven-year marriage to Daniel. Deena’s father, a Hassidic rebbe said the marriage was doomed by the gematria of their names. Deena recalculated the equations stemming from the numbers linked to the letters of their names to justify why Daniel was just the man for her.

When the book opens in September with the renovation of the new house, the marriage starts going down for the count. For their first guests, Daniel suggests inviting his office’s new secretary, Jill, and her roommate, Ann. Both are newcomers to New York City from North Carolina.

Jill, the blonde shiksa, who parties at night, goes horseback riding and dreams of winning the Miss America competition, fascinates Daniel. As they spend more and more time as a foursome, Deena sees ever more clearly what Daniel can’t – he is betraying her even if he hasn’t committed outright adultery. The man who frowns on the tiniest infractions of kashrut or Jewish observance is blind to how he dishonors the most important relationship in his life.

It’s a delicate challenge to write about a dissolving marriage. It has to be clear what they saw in each other in the first place, and equally clear why they must part. If the balance between the two spouses flutters, a tragedy becomes a farce.

Giving Up America is a well-written book. Its only flaw is that Deena is so much more admirable and interesting, she overshadows Daniel. It becomes hard to understand how they stayed married so long. The poignancy of a failed marriage is brief in the face of how much brighter Deena’s future is without Daniel.

About the Author: Pearl Abraham (1960 - )

Deena’s story of living and marrying in America after growing up in Jerusalem echoes Abraham’s own upbringing. The third of nine children in a Hasidic family, she grew up spending a year or two in Jerusalem and then a year or two in New York. In Jerusalem she learned in Yiddish at school; in New York, she learned in English.

She earned a bachelor's degree at Hunter College and a master of fine arts in creative writing from New York University. She teaches creative writing and fiction at Western New England University.

Abraham is also the author of The Romance Reader, The Seventh Beggar and American Taliban.