The Immigrant

A Young Man’S Trade Skills Spark His Love Affair with America’S Economy

In 1903 in oppressive Russia, fifteen-year-old Yussel Reinerman must masquerade as a Christian to be accepted as an apprentice shoemaker. Despite shearing his Orthodox earlocks, isolating himself from his family, and denying his culture, his guise is ultimately discovered. Desperate and on the run for his life, Yussel boards a ship for America, where he seeks the freedom to live fully, practice his religion, and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. As the ship docks in Ellis Island, New York, after a hellacious two-week voyage, Yussel is anxious to put his newfound shoemaker skills to work. Despite knowing no one in America, Yussel still feels immensely relieved to have escaped the Russian madness. As he changes his name to Joseph and slowly begins building his new life in a country where he finally feels acceptance, he falls in love and marries Hannah, an Orthodox Jew who bears him two sons. Joseph can hardly believe his success as he and his family revel in the frenzied prosperity of the 1920sbut all of that is about to change. In the compelling sequel to The Yellow Line, Joseph must attempt to bring his family back together again after tragedy shatters their seemingly perfect life.