Jacob Dinezon's novella Falik and His House, originally published in Yiddish in 1904 and translated into English for the first time by Mindy Liberman, tells the story of an elderly tailor who has fallen on hard times. His house, which he talks to like a brother, was once young and sturdy. Now in old age, it leans precariously, and the roof is leaking so badly it threatens to drown Falik, his wife, and their belligerent tenants.
To make matters worse, the richest man in town has purchased the property next door and is building a grand mansion that is blocking Falik's light. His greedy new neighbor has now turned his eye on Falik's house and has offered a significant sum to take it off his hands.
When Falik writes to his sons in America for financial help, they refuse and encourage him to take the rich man's offer and come live with them in their new home.
What will Falik do? Sell and sail away to America or stay and save his beloved house by binding himself to the town's ruthless loan shark?
Jacob Dinezon's Falik and His House offers a masterful tale of one man's stubborn determination to preserve his Jewish way of life in the Russian Empire at the turn of the twentieth century. A poignant, humorous, and life-affirming story of loyalty, love, and faith.
Author Biography:
Jacob Dinezon was born in New Zagare, Lithuania, in the early 1850s. His father died when he was twelve, and he was sent to live with an uncle in the Russian town of Mohilev. An excellent student, Dinezon was hired by a wealthy family to tutor their young daughter. While living in their household, he became a trusted member of the family and was soon promoted to bookkeeper and manager of the family business. Through this family, Dinezon was introduced to the owner of a famous Jewish publishing company in Vilna called The Widow and Brothers Romm, which published his first novel, The Dark Young Man, in 1877. The book became a runaway bestseller. Moving to Warsaw in the 1890s, Dinezon quickly became a prominent figure in the city's Jewish literary circle. He befriended almost every major Jewish writer of his day, including Sholem Abramovitsh (Mendele Mocher Sforim; 1835-1917), Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), and I. L. Peretz (1852-1915). These writers are the classic writers of modern Yiddish literature, and Peretz became Dinezon's closest friend and confidant. Over the next twenty years, Dinezon published several works of fiction, including A Stumbling Block in the Road, Hershele: A Jewish Love Story, Yosele: A Story from Jewish Life, Falik and His House, and The Crisis: A Story of the Lives of Merchants. He wrote sentimental novels about urban life in the Russian Empire and focused on the emotional conflicts affecting Jewish life as modern ideas challenged long-established religious practices and traditions. The plight of his characters often brought tears to the eyes of his devoted readers and remained in their memories long after they finished his stories. During the First World War, Jacob Dinezon helped found an orphanage and schools to care for Jewish children made homeless by the fighting between Russia and Germany. He died in 1919 and is buried in Warsaw's Jewish cemetery beside I. L. Peretz. Mindy Liberman studied Yiddish at McGill University. She has translated poetry by Miriam Ulinover and letters by Sholem Aleichem. Her work has been published in In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies and on the JacobDinezon.com website. She is a retired librarian living in Los Angeles. Storyteller, publisher, and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Scott Hilton Davis has spent the past fifteen years working to restore the literary legacy of the renowned Jewish author Jacob Dinezon. His small independent publishing company, Jewish Storyteller Press, has published the first English translations of Dinezon's novels and short stories, including The Dark Young Man, Hershele: A Jewish Love Story, Yosele: A Story from Jewish Life, Falik and His House, and Memories and Scenes: Shtetl, Childhood, Writers. Davis is also the author of two short story collections, Souls Are Flying! A Celebration of Jewish Stories and Chanukah Tales from Oykvetchnik.
