Uncle Jacob's Ghost Story

Carolyn Ryder was Humanities Librarian at Calgary Public Library.

The excellent writing style evident in Donn Kushner’s earlier award-winning book, The Violin Maker’s Gift, is certainly very much in evidence in his latest work, Uncle Jacob’s Ghost Story. This charming tale deals eloquently with such themes as friendship, philosophy, and magic — in a way that will appeal to readers of many different age groups.

Kushner employs the device of a story within a story to present Jacob’s tale. The outer story concerns a young boy, Paul, who is anxious to find out about the black sheep of his family, Great Uncle Jacob. Paul finally persuades his grandfather to tell him about Jacob’s mysterious past, and this sets the stage for the description of the earlier events regarding Jacob. While one can appreciate why Kushner employed such a framework, nevertheless it does at times detract from the far more appealing inner story.

Jacob’s story resembles a folktale. With a careful eye for accurate historical detail and setting, the author describes the inhabitants of a Polish village in the early twentieth century and the causes that led to Jacob’s immigration to America. The characters come vividly to life, from the gentle rationalist Jacob and his friends Simon and Esther, to the beggars of the town square. There is no whitewashing of the cruelties of war and death, which ultimately lead to the deaths of Simon and Esther and prompt Jacob’s immigration to New York. While running a newsstand on Times Square, he encounters two unusual street actors and their manager, Mr. Spangler. This encounter leads to a series of mystical events, which convert the rationalist Jacob permanently. The story concludes when Paul is entrusted with the task of passing on Jacob’s story. This ending unfortunately detracts from the morality and beautiful simplicity of the original tale. Also, the overwhelming shame felt by Paul’s family is uncomfortable for the reader and almost excessive at times.

Despite these few problems, though, this is a beautiful book in both the excellent design by Macmillan and the eloquent story that is told.