The Slave (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Isaac Bashevis Singer
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Plot: Historical fiction
- Time of Work: The middle and late 1600’s
- Setting: Poland and Palestine
- Principal Characters: Jacob, Wanda Bzik, Jan Bzik, Dziobak, Adam Pilitzky, Theresa Pilitzky, Gershon
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Tradition, Love or romance, Slavery or slaves, Marriage, Prejudices or antipathies, Religion, Jews or Jewish life, Seventeenth century, Death or dying, Childbirth, Miracles, Poland or Polish people, Jews and Gentiles, Middle East, Peasantry or peasants
- Locales: Palestine, Poland
The Novel
In the Chmielnicki massacres (1648-1649), the Cossacks kill Jacob’s wife and children. He survives by fleeing his native Josefov, but his fate is little better than his family’s: Captured by brigands, he is sold as a slave to Jan Bzik.
Wanda, Jan Bzik’s daughter, falls in love with Jacob. When he tends the cattle in the mountains during the summer, she brings him special foods from the village. When he is sick, she cares for him; when he is bitten by a snake, she saves his life. Because he remains an Orthodox Jew, Jacob will not work on the...
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See Also:
Isaac Bashevis Singer (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Isaac Bashevis Singer (Short Fiction)Isaac Bashevis Singer (Long Fiction)Isaac Bashevis Singer (Identities and Issues)
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