The Samaritan Treasure

Stories by Marianne Luban

July 1, 1990 • 5.5 x 8.5 • 192 pages • 978-0-918273-79-6

Richly told tales based on figures and events from contemporary life and the Jewish story-telling tradition.

Reminiscent of biblical stories, oral histories, and the work of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Luban’s stories illuminate the history and the complexities of the Jewish experience, with settings in ancient Samaria, in Poland, in the concentration camps and in the settlements of the modern-day West Bank. With the reader, they encounter reincarnations, visitors from the stars, seductions, and the lure of hidden treasures.

Reviews

 

“Marianne Luban is a great story teller with great stories to tell. Her tales make history live, coursing through the veins of the colorful, offbeat characters she summons to life. The Samaritan Treasure is a rich collection of short stories.” —The Forward

“Jane Austen’s England, Rome’s Cinecitta, a New York diner, and the ancient world of King Ahab of Samaria—Luban knows them all, and crafts unforgettable fiction from the whole cloth of historic fact.” —Rhoda G. Lewin, editor of Witness to the Holocaust

“I read The Samaritan Treasure in one gulp. Ms. Luban has an amazing grasp of the Jewish condition in history and is able to express it in remarkable ways. She captures both the nuance and the ambivalence of the Jew in historical circumstances.” —Rabbi Bernard S. Raskas