Coming to America when she was still a child, Lena "Emma Kaulfield" Kabelmacher, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, has cultivated a perfect veneer of life: she is engaged to an acceptable man, Alexei Bagdanovich, and she is working towards a degree in statistics in hopes of becoming an accountant. But underneath the calm surface beats the heart of a rebel who is not certain of who she is and is very conflicted about everything in her life, be it her loving but overbearing mother and grandmother, or to what she feels is more important: feeding her soul. Lena struggles to figure out where she belongs... with her family in their old-fashioned thinking, or with her own aspirations in a new land that is supposed to free her from herself.
One night she meets Ignatius "Eddie" Beltrafio, and while their attraction is instantaneous as well as filled with fights and sizzling sex, it is their unexplainable bond to one another that will force Lena to question everything she knows and believes...
This is a book that hits very close to home because I come from the world of Lena Kabelmacher, aka Emma Kaulfield. Interestingly enough and what appealed to me initially about
A delightfully updated Pride and Prejudice with a
Russian-Jewish flair
The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma Kaulfield is an often
laugh-out-loud comedy of conflicting manners, values, and
customs, set against the backdrop of a Russian immigrant
familyโs struggle to assimilate, their newfound love of
capitalism, and their insistent push for their children's
tangible success. Emma Kaulfield escaped the Soviet Union in
the 1980s when she was 10--hers was one of the last Jewish
families to be let out. Now a gorgeous young woman, going to
grad school at NYU, chaffing at the cultural restraints of
her heritage, Emma is engaged to someone just like her--a
handsome young Russian Jew--but then a steamy encounter with
a stranger in a restaurant bathroom turns into a torrid love
affair. She wrestles with what she knows she should do
(career vs. art); who she should love (one of her own vs.
the exotic temptation), to remain loyal to her family, her
people--after all they have suffered--or cut ties and defy
those who love her. The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma
Kaulfield builds in power and suspense, easily becoming an
all-night binge read, impossible to put down. Fishbeynโs
debut novel is sexy, hilarious, heartbreaking, and breathtaking.
The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma Kaulfield is an often
laugh-out-loud comedy of conflicting manners, values, and
customs, set against the backdrop of a Russian immigrant
familyโs struggle to assimilate, their newfound love of
capitalism, and their insistent push for their children's
tangible success. Emma Kaulfield escaped the Soviet Union in
the 1980s when she was 10--hers was one of the last Jewish
families to be let out. Now a gorgeous young woman, going to
grad school at NYU, chaffing at the cultural restraints of
her heritage, Emma is engaged to someone just like her--a
handsome young Russian Jew--but then a steamy encounter with
a stranger in a restaurant bathroom turns into a torrid love
affair. She wrestles with what she knows she should do
(career vs. art); who she should love (one of her own vs.
the exotic temptation), to remain loyal to her family, her
people--after all they have suffered--or cut ties and defy
those who love her. The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma
Kaulfield builds in power and suspense, easily becoming an
all-night binge read, impossible to put down. Fishbeynโs
debut novel is sexy, hilarious, heartbreaking, and breathtaking.
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