Twenty-two wildly different stories that tell of people meeting great challenges in their lives. Author Landes clearly finds that the ability of her character to overcome adversity is of great interest and she address the subject in a most readable way in these small narratives: Misha's flight from the Gulag, Mottie leaves the Yeshiva, teacher Cal is unfairly accused of molesting a student, and others. Any one of these would make a movie. Most, but not all have a happy ending. She can't seem to resist that.

Throughout the book are Landes' original paintings featuring some pithy and succinct folk sayings, mainly from the Yiddish.

Rachel is a long-time Bay Area artist who has exhibited extensively. Her work is mainly abstract expressionist and she did several projects using word and image. Now retired, she lives in Walnut Creek.

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