Rings in a Tree, by Maja Kriel

A Jewish family splintered across time and generations to remote corners of the world, from the Polish village of Sharabka, to Cape Town, Johannesburg, and the United States, is the subject of this debut novel. With themes of loyalty, memory, and a Jewish nostalgia for a "lost home," this tenderly told story unravels with humor and sadness the lives and journeys of a family with individuals that seek to branch out and continue to feed on the nourishment of family roots. Withstanding a series of separations and chance reunions, this weathered but strong family creates a tree marked with the growth rings of time—patterns of love and joy and fear and fragility that keep families together.