The Tin Horse: A Novel

by Janice Steinberg Narrated by Kate McGregor-Stewart

Overview

In the stunning tradition of Lisa See, Maeve Binchy, and Alice Hoffman, The Tin Horse is a rich multigenerational story about the intense, often fraught bond sisters share and the dreams and sorrows that lay at the heart of the immigrant experience.

It has been more than sixty years since Elaine Greenstein's twin sister, Barbara, ran away, cutting off contact with her family forever. Elaine has made peace with that loss. But while sifting through old papers as she prepares to move to Rancho Mañana-or the “Ranch of No Tomorrow” as she refers to the retirement community-she* is stunned to find a possible hint to Barbara's whereabouts all these years later. And it pushes her to confront the fierce love and bitter rivalry of their youth during the 1920s and '30s, in the Los Angeles Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Though raised together in Boyle Heights, where kosher delis and storefront signs in Yiddish lined the streets, Elaine and Barbara staked out very different personal territories. Elaine was thoughtful and studious, encouraged to dream of going to college, while Barbara was a bold rule-breaker whose hopes fastened on nearby Hollywood. In the fall of 1939, when the girls were eighteen, Barbara's recklessness took an alarming turn. Leaving only a cryptic note, she disappeared.

In an unforgettable voice layered with humor and insight, Elaine delves into the past. She recalls growing up with her spirited family: her luftmensch of a grandfather, a former tinsmith with tales from the Old Country; her papa, who preaches the American Dream even as it eludes him; her mercurial mother, whose secret grief colors her moods-and of course audacious Barbara and their younger sisters, Audrey and Harriet. As Elaine looks back on the momentous events of history and on the personal dramas of the Greenstein clan, she must finally face the truth of her own childhood, and that of the twin sister she once knew.

In The Tin Horse, Janice Steinberg exquisitely unfolds a rich multigenerational story about the intense, often fraught bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters and the profound and surprising ways we are shaped by those we love. At its core, it is a book not only about the stories we tell but, more important, those we believe, especially the ones about our very selves.

Praise for The Tin Horse

“Steinberg, the author of five mysteries, has transcended genre to weave a rich story that will appeal to readers who appreciate multigenerational immigrant family sagas as well as those who simply enjoy psychological suspense.”-BookPage

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

When Elaine Greenstein stumbles on an old business card in her mother's papers, she wonders if it might be the key to finding her twin sister, Barbara, who disappeared at the age of 18. But this pleasantly sturdy drama is not in any hurry to solve the mystery. Even-keeled despite a tumultuous narrative, the book slides back to Elaine's formative years and progresses in stately fashion. The scene is early-20th-century Boyle Heights, a diverse Los Angeles neighborhood where the Greensteins and their Jewish neighbors have formed a thriving community. Elaine explores their struggles as a young girl, the immigration experiences of her mother and grandfather, her free-spirited aunt's attempts to live on her own terms, and her cousin's courageous union organizing. Steinberg's (Death in a City of Mystics) careful and satisfying characterizations extend to neighbors and friends as well, creating a vibrant portrait of community. Moving alongside these personal stories are larger historical forces, notably the Depression and, as Elaine enters her turbulent teenage years, the looming threat of war. Elaine's relationship with her sister, complicated by a messy love triangle, comes to a head amid global upheaval. Nearly 70 years later, as she remembers and reexamines her past, Elaine hopes that buried wounds might finally be healed if she can only find her twin sister.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

Advance praise for The Tin Horse
 
“Steinberg, the author of five mysteries, has transcended genre to weave a rich story that will appeal to readers who appreciate multigenerational immigrant family sagas as well as those who simply enjoy psychological suspense.”—BookPage
 
“Steinberg . . . has crafted a novel rich in faith, betrayal, and secrecy that explores the numerous ways people are shaped and haunted by their past. . . . A sweeping family saga reminiscent of the writing of Pat Conroy, where family secrets and flashbacks combine to create an engrossing tale of growth and loss. Highly recommended for fans of family drama and historical fiction.”—Library Journal
 
“Steinberg’s quietly suspenseful novel is compelling by virtue of her sympathetic characters, vivid depiction of WWII-era Los Angeles, and pinpoint illuminations of poverty, anti-Semitism, family bonds and betrayals, and the crushing obstacles facing women seeking full and fulfilling lives.”—Booklist

“In the wry and witty voice of retiree Elaine Greenstein, author Janice Steinberg brings the bygone Jewish immigrant L.A. neighborhood of Boyle Heights to vibrant life. Part mystery, part sister story, part family history, The Tin Horse is a completely immersive reading experience. I closed the pages feeling as though I’d lived another life.”—Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife
 
“Steinberg’s novel introduced me to a dramatic piece of L.A.’s history through the story of the Greenstein family, set in prewar Jewish Boyle Heights. Fascinating and meticulously rendered.”—Janelle Brown, author of All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

Library Journal

While working with an archivist to prepare her papers for donation, elderly Elaine Greenstein discovers a new clue in the mystery of the disappearance of her twin sister, Barbara, when they were 18. This discovery leads Elaine down a path of long-ago memories about her childhood in Boyle Heights, CA, as well as a modern-day hunt for Barbara. Via flashback, the reader is deposited in the midst of the Jewish community in the early 1900s when young Elaine struggles to define herself outside of the shadow cast by her vivacious, popular twin, while competing with her for the heart of Danny, a zealous neighbor. Steinberg, a mystery writer (Death in a City of Mystics), has crafted a novel rich in faith, betrayal, and secrecy that explores the numerous ways people are shaped and haunted by their past.

Verdict A sweeping family saga reminiscent of the writing of Pat Conroy, where family secrets and flashbacks combine to create an engrossing tale of growth and loss. Highly recommended for fans of family drama and historical fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 9/10/12.]—Katie Lawrence, Chicago

(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

FEBRUARY 2013 - AudioFile

Elaine Resnick, a retired activist lawyer, agrees to donate her papers to the University of Southern California library. Working with a student archivist, she finds herself unprepared to confront memories of her childhood in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, particularly the circumstances that led to her twin sister's permanent disappearance 65 years earlier. Narrator Kate McGregor-Stewart so thoroughly embraces Elaine's character that listeners will have to remind themselves the story is fiction. McGregor-Stewart believably renders immigrant accents, Yiddish words, and characters with a wide range of ages in this story of family relationships and secrets. Her expressive reading makes this an outstanding audiobook experience. C.B.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Suspense writer Steinberg (Death in a City of Mystics, 1998, etc.) folds a missing person mystery into a Jewish multigenerational family history set in Boyle Heights, once a distinctly Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles. About to move into a Los Angeles retirement home, former activist lawyer Elaine is preparing her archives to donate to USC when she stumbles upon a business card from the private detective she worked with in her 20s, Philip Marlowe no less: They met when she was the cute, intellectual clerk in The Big Heat bookstore scene. Soon, 80-something Elaine is revving up a renewed search for her twin sister, Barbara, based on a name she finds scribbled on the back of Philip's card: Kay Devereaux. Meanwhile, she is remembering her childhood. Steinberg's Boyle Heights is the quintessential, bordering on stereotypical, early-20th-century Jewish-American ghetto. Elaine's mother, an immigrant from Romania with a dramatic streak, and her father, a shoe salesman who had to quit high school despite his love of literature after his older brother died in World War I, head the cast of colorful relatives as Elaine's stories pile on a glut of dramatic coincidences and family lore that may or may not be true. At the center of Elaine's memories is her relationship with Barbara. As children, the twins were inseparable even though Barbara was social and lively, Elaine quiet and smart. By high school, the sisters were moving in different directions, Elaine toward scholarship and idealism, Barbara toward the Hollywood world of entertainment. They both loved the same boy, Danny, who loved both of them in different ways. Then, in 1939, after an event Elaine is loath to remember, Barbara disappeared. Despite raising provocative questions about twinship, Jewish identity, family roles and betrayal, Steinberg's attempt to combine a heartstring pulling, realistic family saga and film-noirish mystery-solving feels unsatisfying and slightly bipolar.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172223082
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	01/29/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged

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