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A Bagel and a Boiled Egg
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 8 2024
Pages: 114
Weight: 0.36
Height: 0.27 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In 2020 the UK and the world as a whole has been crippled by the Covid pandemic. Every move defined by ever-changing regulation and protocol.
Joe's mother, having struggled with pancreatic cancer for years is nearing the end of her life. His father is struggling in his own way with various ailments, which are in some respects equally debilitating.
His mother dies and that is where the story begins. The aftermath of her death results in spiralling confusion and reflection.
The family are Jewish, not strictly orthodox, in fact not strictly anything, but culturally they are bound to the burial traditions of the quasi-orthodox community. Adding in the restrictions imposed by government, local authority and the Jewish authority (the Beth Din), it was a mess.
If you don't laugh you'll cry. The thread that runs through the story is one of poignant humour running alongside the tragedy.
As Joe sits in a suburban kitchen after his mother's funeral, eating a bagel and a boiled egg in order to honour an age-old Judaic tradition, he laughs to himself at the absurdity of it all.
Six months later Joe's father dies from Covid 19. This time, he is somewhat experienced in the field of burying-a-parent he deals as best as he can with the fallout.
His grief grows, as does his need to reflect to distract from the trauma. Moving through a series of reminiscent flashbacks Joe comes to terms with the life he shared with his parents.
His relationship with his mother had always been fractious; never resolved. His relationship with his father one of deep love, but one scarred with the effects of the severe mental health difficulties his father faced throughout his life.
Looking back Joe does what he can to find the humour in all the pain, and drags himself through towards his own fatherhood.
A coming-of-age reflection on grief, this dark-comedy pulls you through Joe's experiences both good and bad.
We all stumble, amble, struggle, hurt, cry, strive, and end. And then it starts all over again...
Beginning with both funerals, the story cuts back and forth between childhood stories and modern-day realities. Interlaced with stories of the family's immigrant journey to the UK from Ukraine and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it moves through time, to his father's first family in Rhodesia - and the sister Joe never met. Discovering she had died only several years before his father, the story documents Joe's search for what had become of her.
Although the death of his mother, father, sister (and cat) domino one after the other, the story continues to poke fun at the in-betweens and the used-to-bes.
Coming full circle the story ends with Joe discovering that he will be a father himself. He must come to terms with his own child never meeting his parents.
Chapter by chapter the characters develop into rounded wholes and by the end, the dysfunctional normality of Joe's family is designed to allow each reader to reflect on their own personal grief; or simply to laugh at the commentary on their own.
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Davis, J. S.
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