Divorced, unemployed and broke, Elijah Mendes returned to his dying mother, Eve, in his hometown of Chicago. Their relationship has never been warm and fuzzy, and time is running out to find a way to truly communicate. This happens when a previously unopened piece of mail leads him to a shocking discovery. The family owns a Jewish cemetery, and his great-uncle Solomon Kaplan is buried there. Why doesn't he know he had a great-uncle? Elijah wants answers and launches an investigation into his mother's family and learns that his grandfather, Yitzhak "Yitz" Kaplan, came to Chicago from Odessa as a child with his brother Solomon in the early 1900s. The brothers chose two different lines of work. Solomon became a butcher and Yitz became a powerful gangster in the 1920s. The more Elijah learns about Yitz, it becomes apparent why Eve spoke little, if at all, about him.
In KAPLAN'S PLOT, by Jason Diamond, the past and present are linked together in alternating chapters. The author skillfully brings to life the turmoil and challenges of gangs in Chicago during Yitz's life. Step by step and explicitly detailed, readers follow how Yitz rose from being basically a gofer to a powerful mob boss and the prices he and his family paid for the career he chose. He was a complicated man and he kept his motivations close to the vest. Did he crave power or did he do what he thought he needed to just to survive? The people in Yitz's world were a varied group and they added much color to the narrative.
The author has crafted an ambitious and powerful story in which family secrets are revealed. Yitz left a legacy and it was one that offered Elijah and Eve a rare opportunity to right what was previously wrong. Just as important is that they might learn to simply accept each other for who they are.
I found KAPLAN'S PLOT to be a moving portrayal of family and the impact its history can have on the present. Highly recommended.
Elijah Mendes was hoping for a more triumphant return to Chicago. His mother, Eve, is dying of cancer, his business flamed out, and he has nowhere else to go. So he returns to Chicago feeling listless and shattered, worried about how he’s going to help his mother despite their chilly relationship. He finds some inspiration when he discovers that their family owns a Jewish cemetery and that a man he’s never heard of, his great-uncle Solomon Kaplan, is buried in a plot there. With a new sense of purpose—and an excuse to talk more deeply with his mother—Elijah begins pursuing a family mystery of extraordinary proportions.
Elijah discovers his grandfather Yitz, Eve’s father, was a powerful gangster in the 1920s. She was ashamed and never spoke about him to Elijah. As secrets unravel, the past and present become intertwined, and Yitz’s story forces Elijah and Eve to bond in ways they never have before and begin to accept each other, not as who they wish they were but as they both are.
Kaplan’s Plot is an astonishing balancing act between the ruthless and the tender, the superficial and the truth, by a writer with tremendous promise.
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