Separated by a narrow stretch of swamp-like waters, and distinguished by the color of their skin, the Black Jews and the White Jews have been locked in a rancorous feud for centuries. Only now, when their combined number has diminished to less than 50 and they are on the threshold of extinction, have the two remaining Jewish communities in south India begun to realize that their destiny, and their undoing, is the same. Living in Cochin alongside this last generation, Edna Fernandes tells their story from the illustrious arrival of their ancestors from the court of King Solomon, through their long heyday of wealth, tolerance and privilege to their present twilit existence, as synagogues crumble into disuse and weddings disappear, leaving only funerals.
| ISBN | 1846270995 | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | | ISBN13 | 9781846270994
(What's this?) | | Pages | 272 | | Publisher | Granta Books | | Published in | London | | Imprint | Portobello Books Ltd | | Height (mm) | 198 | | Format | Paperback | | Width (mm) | 129 | | Publication date | 03 Aug 2009 | | Academic level | General | | DEWEY | 954.83004924 | |
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'A touching, investigative account - Fernandes movingly captures the sombre, embattled mood of this population in countdown modeA".' Sunday Times 'Fernandes' material is fascinating - The story of these Jews is so compelling and the author' reporting of it so assiduous - Indeed, she has unearthed gems' Economist
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