The Jew Store Audiobook By Stella Suberman cover art

The Jew Store

A Family Memoir

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The Jew Store

By: Stella Suberman
Narrated by: Donna Postel
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In 1920, in small-town America, the ubiquitous dry goods store was usually owned by Jews and often referred to as "the Jew store". That's how Stella Suberman's father's store, Bronson's Low-Priced Store, in Concordia, Tennessee, was known locally. The Bronsons were the first Jews to ever live in that tiny town of one main street, one bank, one drugstore, one picture show, one feed and seed, one hardware, one barber shop, one beauty parlor, one blacksmith, and many Christian churches. Aaron Bronson moved his family all the way from New York City to Tennessee to prove himself a born salesman - and much more.

Told by Aaron's youngest child, The Jew Store is that rare thing - an intimate family story that sheds new light on a piece of American history. With a novelist's sense of scene, suspense, and, above all, characterization, Stella Suberman turns the clock back to a time when rural America was more peaceful but no less prejudiced, when educated liberals were suspect, and when the Klan was threatening to outsiders. In that setting she brings to life her remarkable father, a man whose own brand of success proves that intelligence, empathy, liberality, and decency can build a home anywhere.

©1998 Stella Suberman (P)2016 Tantor Biographies & Memoirs Cultural & Regional Judaism Historical Americas Inspiring

Critic reviews

"Suberman's fine writing and her ability to record tones and scents as well as images make this a lively and engaging story." ( School Library Journal)

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Engaging Memoir • Interesting Family Story • Tremendous Narration • Remarkable Historical Perspective • Pleasant Voice

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I really enjoyed this book. Could this have been Union City? Would love to know.

Great book!

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I’m somewhat tired of memoirs as a genre, but I found this one different and very interesting. It’s an engaging story of a remarkable man — the author’s father, Aaron Bronson — and how he seized opportunity and used his powers of charm and enterprise to start a business and make a life for his family in a rural Tennessee town.

I came away from the book admiring Aaron Bronson and *loving* Miss Brookie — perhaps the greatest hero of the story — but not so fond of Reba Bronson (the author’s mother) and particularly her her sister Sophie. Mom sounds like a drag and her clinging to religious insularity would be prejudice in a mainstream character.

I appreciate the way Stella Ruth (the author) depicts the small town’s prejudices but also its warmth and generosity, which in the end defined her family’s experience far more than did the negatives. Despite standing out as the only Jewish family in town, the Bronsons quickly became a part of town business and social life. One particularly horrible and unredeemed person, and even the lurking presence and influence of the Ku Klux Klan, are felt, but are not the focus of the family’s experiences, giving a much more nuanced picture of life in the south in that era for Jews than we might expect. (The depiction of life for the black residents seems much more bleak.)

All in all, for a look at both an interesting family and life in an unusual situation and distant time, I highly recommend “The Jew Store.”

Charming unaffected memoir of a Jewish family in early 20th century southern US

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The youngest of 3 children of Russian Jewish immigrants to the USA tells the story of her family's move to Tennessee where they opened a dry goods store in a small town. The premise is an interesting one as this was a somewhat common phenomenon - Jewish immigrants opening stores in small communities where they are the only, or one of a very few Jewish people. As is to be expected, there were issues of acceptance by the community, issues of isolation due to their situation of being the only Jewish family in the community and issues of foreignness in general. None of these issues is dealt with in any depth, however, leaving something to be desired.
Unfortunately, too, the author fails to flesh out her characters, but chooses instead to try and make them fit templates for the type of people who did this sort of thing. This too makes the story feel a bit empty.

A little too stereotyped

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This memoir is well-crafted and very engaging. It describes a clash of cultures that took place in the 1920’s between a Jewish immigrant family and a small southern town in Tennessee. I found myself transported to this era and got caught up in the suspense of what would happen next. Expertly narrated. Well done!

A Gem

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
A very touching family story. What more do I need to say?

Marvelous! Very touching!

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