REVIEWS+

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English

by Natasha Solomons
Reagan Arthur: Little, Brown. 2010. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-316-07758-3. $23.99. F
COPY ISBN
As Jewish refugees from Berlin who had obtained exit visas to Britain in 1937, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum have a lot for which to be thankful. Even a brief imprisonment as an enemy alien does little to dampen Jack's ardor for all things British or shorten his list of rules to live by to become more truly English. But while success comes to Jack in the form of a booming carpet business, Savile Row suits, a beloved Jaguar, and a Cambridge-bound daughter, one mark of the true Englishman still eludes him: the genteelly anti-Semitic British place Jewish quotas on golf club membership. So Jack uproots Sadie and moves her to the Dorset countryside, where a thatched cottage and a large acreage beckon him. Armed with a course design guide by Bobby Jones, Jack cheerfully sets out to build single-handedly the finest golf course in England in time for the new queen's coronation.
VERDICT Mix some eccentric villagers with evocative descriptions of English gardens and Jewish baking and you have a beguiling debut novel sure to appeal to the legion of fans of novels like Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and Helen Simonson's Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.
Reviewed by Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont. , Jul 01, 2010
Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

RELATED 

More
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?