Cafe Scheherazade

The legendary Queen Scheherazade told her seductive tales for a thousand and one nights. The characters in Arnold Zable's haunting book emerged from the chaos of World War II to tell their own stories of profound love and loss. When Martin Davis, a journalist, sets out to discover those narratives he has no idea of the remarkable people he will meet: Avram and Masha, the proprietors of Cafe Scheherazade; Yossel stalking the streets of Warsaw and Shanghai; Laizer exiled to vast Siberian forests; and gentle Zalman, searching for the moment when all journeys end. All cast their spell in the cafe by the sea. A cafe whose name will itself reveal the moving story of how Avram and Masha met and fell in love. At once fable and history, Cafe Scheherazade takes the reader on a journey which ranges from Kobe to Paris, from Vilna to Melbourne. It remains faithful to the experiences of Jewish survivors, whose lives reflect the courage of refugees everywhere, and confirms Arnold Zable's status as a master storyteller.