Wolfy and the Strudelbakers

Book excerpt: An enchanting blend of humour and crisp observation in a story of Jewish exiles in Britain. Set in wartime and post-war England Wolfy and the Strudelbakers is a comic take on the disaster zone of displacement and exile. Wolfy lives with the 'strudelbakers'-his super-critical aunt and melancholy uncle-in the surrealistic world of refugees granted shelter from persecution. He is an expert at living in two cultures-the chaotic, dark world of uprooted people desperately hanging on to their Jewish religion-and the vitality, variety and temptation he finds in London's streets. "A most impressive novel full of narrative power and unforgettable description."-Jewish Chronicle "The delight is in the comic detail, even when the matter is serious."-The Times Zvi Jagendorf teaches English and Theatre Studies at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.