Up from Orchard Street

By: Eleanor Widmer

Narrated by: Lorna Raver

Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Three generations of Roths live together in a crowded tenement flat. Long-widowed Manya is the family's head and its heart. She's renowned throughout the neighborhood for her cooking, and every noontime the front room of the flat turns into Manya's private restaurant. But Manya is no soft touch, except, perhaps, where her granddaughter Elka is concerned. Precocious Elka is her closest companion and confidante. Through Elka's eyes we come to know the fascinating characters who move in and out of the Roths' lives. Money may have been short, but opinions were not, and their tart tongues and lively humor abound. In this riveting story lies the heart of the American immigrant experience: a novel at once wise, funny, poignant, anguishing, exultant, and bursting with love.

©2005 Eleanor Widmer (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration (Female)

"Poignant snapshot of a long-lost era and place....[This] first novel offers pungent, nostalgic vignettes of Jewish life on Manhattan's Lower East Side." (Kirkus Reviews)

up from orchard street

terrific insight into the lives of a jewish family but not a religious family. fabulous narrator and will look for lorna raver again. too bad this author doesn't have any others here, i would get it in a minute!

wonderful performance

There is not a lot of action in this book , but there is a tremendous amount of atmosphere. Lorna Raver brings this story to life. The characters are distinct and lifelike. The novel is a series of reminiscences of a child's past and of a time past. I enjoyed my time there. There was hardship but also much love. It is not romanticized but presented just so we can look at it and see for ourselves what those days may have been like.

Left feeling confused

There was very little point to much of the story, with adult themes through out

Entertaining

While this book was no great piece of literature, it was an entertaining, engaging story. My Italian grandmother grew up in the NYC tenements and many of her stories were similar although her family was actually poorer than the one described. I think the child's perspective was a good approach, as many of the harsh realities were downplayed. The Tenement Museum in NYC has apartments decorated as they were in this time period - quite interesting.

Loved it!

My favorite story is one that takes you right there as if you are in the room with the characters. This book is wonderful, the narrator is just right.

Down and Dirty 1930s Jewish Life in NY Tenements

Up from Orchard Street will go down as one of the best books I've come across or listened to . . . and for a number of reasons . . . always on the look out for stories that will give me insight to a different time and place, and a glimpse into the hearts and souls of people whose culture and experience are not the same as my own, this one is it . . . told from the point of view of young Elka, Grandmother Manya's favorite grandchild, whose curiosity and exuberance for life amazes and sometimes shocks those she comes in contact with, the story is told from a totally honest view point . . . no sugar coating, yet not vulgar in any way . . . sex is treated as any other part of life . . . why can't we all do that? . . . the wisdom of Manya and others of her generation puts me to shame . . . the beauty of life, so gently told, letting it unfold, like a rose, opening up, day by day, revealing it's inner loveliness . . . that's what this book is . . . and not holding on too tightly to the crushing blows of life . . . the illness, the deceit, the poverty . . . the horror that inevitably comes our way . . . this book is full of common sense, love and family . . . it would do everybody a world of GOOD to read it, take it in . . . and learn from it . . .

Made me smile

This brought back many memories of days gone by. I enjoyed it. I found myself looking forward to getting in my car so that I could get back to this very close and loving family. Many of her memories are my memories too and many things put a smile on my face.

Story that touches the heart

There is nothing better than a long book that engages your heart. I was so disappointed when I finished. Human characters with bravery and faults; a family history with joy and heartbreak. Do not pass up this book.

Good Historical Memoir

The people in "Up From Orchard Street" do come alive... to a certain extent. Hence, the 4 stars in the "overall" category.

There was a certain amount of color that embellished the characters but somehow, I was always expecting a little more... of course this book is a partially true historical recounting of growing up in early to mid century New York City and the author may have stuck so closely to facts that any fictionalized dramas may have not been the direction Widmer, the author, wished to head. That made for a slightly predictable means of seeing the characters in most situations.

However, the book held my interest and you might find the characters more colorful than I did. Lorna Raver did a great job with the immigrant accents speaking English and also Yiddish.

Finally, in the afterword, I thought Widmer might have her real story. What she says, briefly, happened to her and her family's lives after she became an adult, might actually be more interesting than recounting her memories of childhood.

But overall... I liked the book.

I was so sad for it to end

I lived this book and the reading was perfect
It ended too soon. In fact that is my only complaint. I feel it glossed over the end as though the writer was tired of the subject. The story, up until the last chapter was wonderful. You care about the whole family, and how they care about each other. It brings to mind a favorite book from my childhood, "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn ". I have to say, I also a great fan of Lorna River. Her voice and accent was one of the great joys of the book. Every character was beautifully done. I recommend it.