We'll Go To Coney Island

This is a wonderful book, and Minna is so real and so human. Just the right amount of insight into other characters gives Minna the perfect spotlight. I have two children just as Minna did. And the are also named Rachel and Daniel, Rachel being the oldest. How could I not love this book?Two reasons to hold back on the fifth star: the title..... I was looking to read about Coney Island during the time period of Minna's early years. The title, a line early on in the book, at least to me, doesn't seem "fair" to Minna, whose story this really is. And yet, if not for the title, I would not have found this treasure.. And the second reason for withholding a star is that at times I struggled to make the time line work... from the early years which are the only "dated" chapters up to current times. Maybe I was thinking too much!

What a beautiful, memorable read. I heard the author interviewed on public radio and my interest was piqued. I am SO pleased I went and got this book (I've just ordered two more copies to give away). It seems to be a fictionalized, part imagined version of her mother's life (and to some extent her own). As such, it is wonderfully written, remarkably evocative, absolutely compelling and quite poignant. I really just wanted to drink it all up in one sitting . . . For a small taste of the author and the premise of this book, I recommend giving the NPR interview (with Scott Simon) a listen.

Barbara Scheiber has a remarkable gift for storytelling. She develops the characters through a series of short stories that all relate to a family history that could so easily become cliche, but is compelling and interesting. She builds the story piece by piece - like assembling a puzzle - so that what might be a mundane story of family betrayal instead becomes a mystery. Seeds of ideas planted in the very opening paragraphs are unresolved until the very end of the novel.

Beautifully written, weaving between young immigrants falling in love in 1916 and the conflicts that grow and separate them years later, this "novel in stories" has a poignancy in its depiction of the joys and despair of family life and a fascinating description of life in the Lower East Side in early 1900s.

This book was a wonderful story of an immigrant Jewish family. I felt elated with the famliy's joy and saddened by its sorrows. I thought it would be especially fitting for me, a Jewish woman who has lived in Brooklyn her whole life. I think it crosses all ethnic and cultural lines and would highly recommend "Well Go to Coney Island" to anyone who wants to read a well-written story.

With shifting focalization between complex, independently minded women with familial roots that lie in the bustling city of New York, Barbara Scheiber creates a novel that navigates the ever-changing and emotionally taxing lives of women in love.Barbara Scheiber grew up in Washington Heights, possessing a love for writing from a young age. Her childhood was filled with putting on plays for her family and friends and eventually attending Vassar College. By means of her writing, Scheiber and two college friends were recognized by Eleanor Roosevelt for their efforts to grow local support for war efforts. She then went on to work in the radio industry and as a speechwriter for the American Jewish Congress. After finding success in these fields, Scheiber decided to pursue her desires of writing fiction, publishing short stories and eventually two novels, one of which is We’ll Go to Coney Island.The novel begins by introducing Minna, a girl who has just immigrated to New York with her mother from Romania in 1915. Scheiber characterizes her with fear and intimidation by her new home and changing appearance before jumping forward in time and focalizing a new character: Rachel. It is not long before it is revealed that Rachel is Minna’s daughter, introduced after Minna has just given birth to her second child. These time jumps continue throughout the novel, expertly navigating between the two women’s lives as they come of age, fall in love, fall out of love, and endure the struggles of adulthood and growing old. Aaron, the object of young Minna’s affection and eventually Rachel’s father, is an extremely prominent character in the novel and in the lives of these women. Their love for him grows and simmers out in a similar timeline in their respective lives, but affects them in many different ways that impact how and who they love in the future.An extremely impressive element of Scheiber’s writing is her use of sensory details. Immediately noticeable is her use of color to describe various locations and experiences throughout the novel, inviting the reader to step into Minna and Rachel’s worlds. The color white used to indicate the Minna’s innocence and the first stages of her relationship with Aaron. The color gray used as an indicator of Charlotte’s presence that transcends the various characters and timelines in the story. Her skilled use of auditory and olfactory details adds to this connection between the reader and the story world as well.Charlotte is a character who is not immediately focalized, shaping her character through the eyes of Minna and Rachel. She is a villain to these characters for some time, coming between Aaron and Minna’s marriage and dividing the family they had built through her and Aaron’s affair. Scheiber effectively creates a sense of mystery around Charlotte’s character, allowing the reader to create their own perception of her until she is eventually focalized when both Rachel and Minna have grown older. Charlotte’s own point of view of her and Aaron’s relationship is revealed, as well as the struggles she faced becoming a stepmother after Aaron left Minna to be with her. By shaping Charlotte’s character in this manner and waiting to focalize her, Scheiber strategically manipulates the reader’s perspective of her and prompts reevaluation of Aaron’s character and the immense impact he had on each of these women by feeding into his own selfish desires.Rounding out the novel is Scheiber’s poignant manner of showing growth in these characters the reader has grown so fond of, only to bring them back down to where they started by fault of the men in their lives. Minna finally finds love again after being left by Aaron, only to reach her elderly years and find her new husband colder and more unappreciative than ever. Similarly, after struggling to find herself as a teenager, Rachel makes tenure as an adult. Her husband, Richard, seems to be focused more on his own life and holding her accountable for her family’s actions.We’ll Go to Coney Island is a work that thoroughly and seamlessly interweaves the complexities of immigration, love, marriage, and family through the lives of beautifully relatable and resilient women.The book is available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Well-Coney-Island-Barbara-Scheiber/dp/0984472797

This book has been my most popular book present in a while. It's a lovely read, enchanting even, and I read it again as soon as I finished it the first time. It captures a time and place in tone and spirit, as well as in well crafted prose.

Involving memoir by the daughter of an dearly twentieth century immigrant family.