An Amazon "Best Books of the Month" Pick for October 2016 "[
Among the Living] vividly reveals the complex texture of Savannah's thriving Jewish community, its diversity as well as its heroism, but also the clash between Reform and Conservative Jews and the lingering prejudice against African Americans. This stirring, powerful novel never sugarcoats its themes or characters; what emerges is a hard-won realism and a compelling look at one corner of the postwar world."
--Booklist "In this amazing novel full of plot twists, Rabb examines true love, fair treatment to people of all races, how to practice honorable journalism, and what it means to be truly alive."
--Library Journal "Rabb is an accomplished storyteller with an eye for telling detail and for dialogue."
--Kirkus Reviews "In this gem of a novel, Rabb, whose previous books include The Berlin Trilogy, tells a small, compelling story of love while quietly evoking the postwar South and its Jews....Among the Living is spellbinding and restrained, its subtlety cloaking powerful messages that linger."
--American Jewish World
"A sensitive and well-observed journey that brings the texture and spirit of its era vividly to life. Rabb's humanistic gaze places
Among the Living among the timeless American stories about identity." --Geoffrey Fletcher, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of
Precious "An insightful and evocative antidote to nostalgia about the 'good old days' of America's post-World War II era." --Mary Doria Russell, author of
The Sparrow,
A Thread of Grace, and
Epitaph "
Among the Living contains multitudes. It's wry and moving, lyrical and direct, historical and timely, Jewish and (above all) American. It's the best book I've read in a while." --Darin Strauss, author of
Half a Life, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography
"
Among the Living is a beautifully written and immensely readable love story. Jonathan Rabb has created an original and penetrating study of Judaism in the deep south and the many forms it takes." --Alfred Uhry, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
Driving Miss Daisy "With a delicate but sure touch, Jonathan Rabb delves into questions of racial identity, religious expression, and cultural assimilation. His is a nuanced and evocative novel, no less readable for its rich complexity." --Christina Baker Kline, best-selling author of
Orphan Train "Jonathan Rabb is one of my favorite writers, a highly gifted heart-wise storyteller if ever there was one. From its first pages,
Among the Living carries you into a particular time and setting, and into the lives of people with whom you are entirely unfamiliar and holds you there with a story that will almost certainly stay with you for years to come. What a powerful, moving book."
--David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom