And This Is the Light

And This Is the Light, Goldberg`s debut novel, tells a moving and often somber coming-of-age story very similar to her own.

It is the summer of 1931 and 20-year-old Nora returns home for a college vacation determined to show everyone her new, mature self. But as soon as she reaches her hometown, where her mother and aunt anxiously await her, she reluctantly faces her past. During her vacation, Nora meets a friend of her father`s – Albert Arin – an older man to whom she is attracted. Their long walks and intellectual talks tempt her to see herself and Arin as potential lovers, but her pretty aunt is also vying for Arin. Already insecure in her appearance, Nora finally breaks down when she discovers Arin is having an affair with a friend of his daughter`s. Yet her fears run deeper than questions of beauty. Throughout the novel, she is haunted by her father`s memory, most of all by his insanity which started when he was tortured during World War I. Now institutionalized, he comes home to spend time with his daughter. Constantly searching her soul for hints of madness, Nora is thus torn between her fear of a harmful genetic heritage and her love for her father. When she finds out that Arin too suffers from a mental disorder, she is crushed but manages to escape a similar fate.

Between the lines we also learn about the world of a young, educated Jewish woman who is often held back because of her origins and class. This is also the world of European Jews just before it changed forever, and the reader will bear this in mind when reading about their vacations, political arguments and quiet provincial life.