{"title":"Miriam Karmel","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"being-esther-book-miriam-karmel-9781571311054","title":"Being Esther","description":"\u003cbr\u003eGrowing old is one of the most surprising things that has happened to her. She hadn't given it any thought. Then one day, she was eighty-five. She is old. Not just old, but an object of derision, pity. Is there any use explaining that she is still herself--albeit a slower, achier, creakier version of the original? --from \u003ci\u003eBeing Esther\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn to parents who fled the shtetl, Esther Lustig has led a seemingly conventional life--marriage, two children, a life in suburban Chicago. Now, at the age of eighty-five, her husband is deceased, her children have families of their own, and most of her friends are gone. Even in this diminished condition, life has its moments of richness, as well as its memorable characters. But above all there are the memories. Of better days with Marty, her husband. Of unrealized obsessions with other men. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs she moves back and forth through time, Esther attempts to come to terms with the meaning of her outwardly modest life. As a young woman, she wondered about the world beyond the narrow, prescribed world she inhabited. Now, cruelly, she can't help but wonder if she has done anything for which she will be remembered. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once sad and amusing, unpretentious yet wonderfully ambitious, Miriam Karmel's debut novel brings understanding and tremendous empathy to the unforgettable Esther Lustig. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA journalist and freelance writer, Miriam Karmel has published writing in \u003ci\u003eARP The Magazine, Minnesota Women's Press, Bellevue Literary Review, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMinnesota Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sandisfield, Massachusetts. \u003ci\u003eBeing Esther\u003c\/i\u003e is her first novel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49591714840849,"sku":"GOR010975736","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50383030911249,"sku":"CIN157131105XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50764423725329,"sku":"CIN157131105XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037293183249,"sku":"NIN9781571311054","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/157131105X.jpg?v=1751055879"},{"product_id":"being-esther-book-miriam-karmel-9781571310965","title":"Being Esther","description":"\u003cbr\u003eGrowing old is one of the most surprising things that has happened to her. She hadn't given it any thought. Then one day, she was eighty-five. She is old. Not just old, but an object of derision, pity. Is there any use explaining that she is still herself--albeit a slower, achier, creakier version of the original? --from \u003ci\u003eBeing Esther\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn to parents who fled the shtetl, Esther Lustig has led a seemingly conventional life--marriage, two children, a life in suburban Chicago. Now, at the age of eighty-five, her husband is deceased, her children have families of their own, and most of her friends are gone. Even in this diminished condition, life has its moments of richness, as well as its memorable characters. But above all there are the memories. Of better days with Marty, her husband. Of unrealized obsessions with other men. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs she moves back and forth through time, Esther attempts to come to terms with the meaning of her outwardly modest life. As a young woman, she wondered about the world beyond the narrow, prescribed world she inhabited. Now, cruelly, she can't help but wonder if she has done anything for which she will be remembered. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once sad and amusing, unpretentious yet wonderfully ambitious, Miriam Karmel's debut novel brings understanding and tremendous empathy to the unforgettable Esther Lustig. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA journalist and freelance writer, Miriam Karmel has published writing in \u003ci\u003eARP The Magazine, Minnesota Women's Press, Bellevue Literary Review, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMinnesota Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sandisfield, Massachusetts. \u003ci\u003eBeing Esther\u003c\/i\u003e is her first novel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49803490361617,"sku":"CIN1571310967G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51323663646993,"sku":"CIN1571310967VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1571310967.jpg?v=1751181243"},{"product_id":"subtle-variations-and-other-stories-book-miriam-karmel-9780998601007","title":"Subtle Variations and Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe characters in Miriam Karmel's stories hold together the expanding, collective lives of extended family through a cherished and cared-for history of survival that is present and always heard, even when it is unspoken, incomplete, or hidden. Gently told in prose that is elegantly matter-of-fact and lovingly descriptive and detailed, \u003ci\u003eSubtle Variations and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautiful and moving read. --Linda LeGarde Grover, Finalist judge and author of \u003ci\u003eThe Dance Boots \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn these loosely linked stories, characters succumb to magical thinking in their obsessive longing to direct the future, the present, and even the past. In the title story, a husband tries to convince his wife of the subtle beauty in the many shades of green in their garden, when all she wants are flowers. In other stories, characters stubbornly attempt to cheat death. A woman makes jam to resurrect a daughter killed in Iraq. A man throws a party to keep his dying wife alive. A woman believes she can rescue the past by holding onto everyday objects like pots and pans. Though these stories are filled with loss and echoing grief, they hold equal measures of gratitude and pride, resilience and joy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMiriam Karmel is the recipient of \u003ci\u003eMinnesota Monthly's\u003c\/i\u003e Tamarack Award for her short story The Queen of Love. She has received numerous other awards for her stories, including the Moment Magazine\/Karma Foundation Short Fiction Prize. Her novel \u003ci\u003eBeing Esther\u003c\/i\u003e was published by Milkweed Editions in 2013.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51327417385233,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51327420563729,"sku":"CIN0998601004VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0998601004.jpg?v=1750821096"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-miriam-karmel.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}