Her first American : a novel / Lore Segal ; introduced by Jeffery Renard Allen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Segal, Lore Groszmann, author.

Contributor:

Allen, Jeffery Renard, 1962- writer of introduction.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish refugees--New York (State)--New York--Fiction.

Jewish refugees.

African American intellectuals--New York (State)--New York--Fiction.

African American intellectuals.

Americanization--Fiction.

Americanization.

Man-woman relationships--Fiction.

Man-woman relationships.

Interracial couples--Fiction.

Interracial couples.

New York (N.Y.)--Fiction.

New York (N.Y.).

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Physical Description:

366 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Slightly revised edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : The New Press, 2026.

Summary:

She's Ilka Weissnix, a young Jewish refugee from Hitler's Europe, newly arrived in the United States. He's Carter Bayoux, her first American: a middle-aged, hard-drinking Black intellectual. At first, their relationship is fueled by lust, but also by a shared sense of displacement, with Ilka having fled her homeland and Carter struggling to find his place in a society steeped in racism and prejudice. In an effort to assimilate and discover "the real America," Ilka hurls herself into Carter's chaotic world, helping him navigate depression, alcoholism, and the ghosts of his past--and present. Will Ilka sacrifice her own needs--and future--for Carter's, or can she save him from the demons and traumas that are tearing him, and them, apart?

Notes:

"First published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1985"--Title page verso.

ISBN:

9798893850505

OCLC:

1529602658