NovelThreeWomenandOneCentury–Foreignrights–LeVergerÉditeur–Barr(FR)+33(0)388085170–pierre.marchant@verger-editeur.fr–http://verger-editeur.fr/-Foreign-rights- 1

THREE WOMEN AND ONE

CENTURYGenre(s):

• roman-fleuve(3generations)• personaltestimonialnarrativesKeywords:

• History(20thcentury,anti-Semitism)• Jewishidentity• Male-femalerelationships• Feminism• Integration

Audience:suitableforallaudiencesandallages;readersinterestedinJewishcultureandhistory

Rightsoldabroad:/

ConceptAfictionaltaleinspiredbytruestories:threewomen,threemothers,threeerasoverthecourseofthe20thcentury;threevariationsonintimacy,femininity,andrelationshipwithGod.AfictionalizedportraitofthemodernJewishwoman.

Universeandreferences• FilmAsecret(ClaudeMiller)• NovelTheWomenofLazarus(MarinaStepnova)• WorldWarIIanddeportation• Ashkenazicommunities(EasternFranceandGermaniccountries)

PitchWhenhermotherpassesaway,awomanevokesherfamily’sstory:threegenerationsofJewishwomenborninthreeverydifferenteras.Threemothers.Threedaughters.

Their storybegins in the rural Jewish communitiesofAlsace inwhich they livedpeacefullywith theirneighbors.ThestorycontinueswiththehorrorofWorldWarIIbeforeendinginthepresentdayofoursometimesgrayandsometimesbrightcities.

Thelivesofthesethreewomen,theirlovestories,andtheirmother-daughterrelationshipsarealsothestories of their men who were either not present or otherwise occupied, and of conflicts betweentraditionandmodernity…Thisisthestoryofthreedifferentwaystobeawomanandtolove,andaboveall,aboutthechallengeofunderstandingoneself.

NovelThreeWomenandOneCentury–Foreignrights–LeVergerÉditeur–Barr(FR)+33(0)388085170–pierre.marchant@verger-editeur.fr–http://verger-editeur.fr/-Foreign-rights- 2

AuthorJanineElkouby isaclassicsspecialist.ShehasworkedonwomeninJudaismforalongtimeandistheauthor of three novels. She regularly contributes to the publication Information Juive, is activelyinvolved in interreligious dialogue, and is the President of the Strasbourg branch of “Amitié judéo-chrétienne”[Judeo-ChristianFriendship].

Ataglance• Novel• Wordcount:860,000charactersincludingspaces• AvailablematerialinEnglish:thispresentation(includinganoverviewofthework’scharacteristics)

andatranslatedexcerpt

ExcerptOurlifeasarabbinicalcoupleinthissmallcommunitynearPariswasnobedofroses.Beingarabbi,asIquickly learned, is all-consuming. Benjamin is constantly dealing with expectations, requests, andunrealistichopes.Alloftheproblemsandeverysourceofdistress,solitude,ordespaireventuallyendupathisdoor.Benjaminhasoftentoldme inprivate thatamongthesechallenges,oneof therecurrentproblems is the refusalofagetwhichsomehusbands request for theirex-wives.Thispracticewouldmakethemagunah,prohibitedfrommakinganewlifeandthereforerunningtheriskofadulteryandgivingbirthtomamzérim.Thehusband,ontheotherhand,islegallyallowedtomarryanotherwomanandanychildrenwouldhaveaperfectlynormalstatus.Morethanonce,hehasexpressedhisrevulsionanddisgustregardingthebehaviorofsuchhusbandswho,hesaid,usedthelawtoactlikebanditsandcrooks.

But he also must deal with the dishonesty and power lust of certain notable individuals. He wasparticularly marked by an episode that took place a few years after his nomination when he wasworking to bring a second rabbi into the community, which had developed remarkably under myhusband’s leadership. He often told me how the president, with rare cynicism, had successfullymanipulatedthesynagogue’scommitteemembers.

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