The eldest daughter of the Rabbi of Dubnitz had always been a little different. Not satisfied with the mundane expectations of her friends,
she refuses the suitors she is offered by her family. Yet Miriam's daring draws her down forbidden paths; when a romantic liaison with a young Christian peasant is discovered, she
is quickly married to a man from another town and sent away. His cruelty and madness send her fleeing to Warsaw, where she finds the love she has been looking for. Centered finally, with a new, loving husband, a flourishing business, and a beloved child, Miriam makes peace with her
parents and begins life anew, but when the distant rumbles of Nazism become the roaring maelstrom of World War II, she is faced with the loss of everything she holds dear. Separated from her husband and son, can she possibly survive a world gone mad to find them again?
The first part of The Chimney Tree was published in 2000. Substantially revised by
the author, it is now published in the full version as envisioned by her.
About the Author
 Helaine Helmreich was born in postwar Brooklyn, New York. She attended Brooklyn College and
CUNY Graduate Center. Inspired by the many stories she heard growing up in a
neighborhood of Holocaust survivors and their children, she began writing The Chimney Tree while spending a Sabbatical year in Jerusalem.
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The Critics Praise:
"Highly recommended"
- Library Journal
"...the novel's unusual setting and turbulent era add another dimension to the usual romance."
- The New York Times
"Inspiring in its portrait of an indomitable human impulse to live, to love, and to rebuild when it seems almost everything has been destroyed."
- Lilith
"An inspiring and captivating work - great reading - a romance adventure saga that you will be unable to put down or forget."
- Book News
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