A dazzling Sephardic multigenerational saga that moves from Istanbul to Barcelona, Havana, and New York, exploring displacement, endurance, and family as home.
“Intimately imagined, lyrically written, and rich with historical detail, Kantika weaves forced displacement, wild reinvention, and triumphant healing into a big, border-crossing family saga. Oh, and did I mention that it brings to life a neglected corner of Jewish history? Marvelous!” —Gish Jen, author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon
“From the first page, I was swept up and carried along on the migrations of an unforgettable family. Kantika is a gripping and gorgeously-told story of 20th-century Sephardic exile and reinvention and the longing for homes, both old and new.” —Tova Mirvis, author of The Book of Separation
Read about Kantika and preorder it here.
Watch this 5 minute video about the inspiration for Kantika and Elizabeth’s research process, which began decades ago when she first recorded her grandmother Rebecca telling stories.
News
A German edition of Kantika is forthcoming from Mareverlag, the house that published The End of the Point (called Die Sommer der Porters in German). Kantika will be translated by Julianne Zaubitzer, who did such a wonderful job with my last book. I’ve recently returned from a week in Berlin where I glimpsed the vibrant literary scene there, as well as the city’s efforts to memorialize and come to terms with the Holocaust as it played out on its streets. From the stolpersteine (stumbling stones) marking the last voluntary resident of people persecuted by the Nazis to the extraordinary little Museum Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind, you feel the stories everywhere, often literally beneath your feet. It means a lot to me that Kantika, with its roots in a different expulsion and its Sephardic story, will become part of the conversation in Germany.
“Six Writers on Books They Received—and Remembered” Boston Globe, 12/26/2021
In Conversation with Elizabeth Graver, Marble House Project, June 2021 (video)
Elizabeth Graver 