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Author John Irving’s new novel, ‘Queen Esther,’ deals with Israel and antisemitism

JL;DR SUMMARY Famed novelist John Irving's upcoming 16th novel, "Queen Esther," explores themes of identity, belonging, and antisemitism through the story of Esther Nacht, a Jewish orphan from Vienna. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

JerusalemViennaMaineHistorical FictionNovelQueen EstherJohn IrvingJewish Orphan

Places mentioned

Vienna, Austria
"a Jewish orphan from Vienna who winds up in Maine before making her way to Israel."
Maine, United States
"Jewish orphan from Vienna who winds up in Maine before making her way to Israel."
New Hampshire, United States
"telling stories set in his native New England and in Austria, the site of a pivotal adventure"
Jerusalem, Israel
"that the novel ends in Jerusalem in 1981, when Esther is 76."
Israel
"and that Esthers story is fated to intersect with Israels history,"

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Cairo Item ID 43722
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2025-02-07 05:30:44 UTC
Curated 2025-02-07 08:31:31 UTC