{"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":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50383030911249,"sku":"CIN157131105XG","price":8.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50764423725329,"sku":"CIN157131105XVG","price":4.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037293183249,"sku":"NIN9781571311054","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/157131105X.jpg?v=1751055879","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/being-esther-book-miriam-karmel-9781571311054","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}