Rose Tremain’s ‘Gustav Sonata’ wins Ribalow Prize for Jewish fiction

The novel is the British novelist's first on a Jewish theme.

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(JTA) — British novelist Rose Tremain won Hadassah Magazine’s Harold U. Ribalow Prize for Jewish fiction for her novel “The Gustav Sonata.”

The novel, set in Switzerland, is about the friendship of a Jewish boy and the son of an anti-Semitic mother. It also won the 2017 National Jewish Book Award for fiction.

Tremain, who lives in Norfolk, England, is the author of 14 novels and five short story collections. “The Gustav Sonata” is her first on a Jewish theme.

The other 2017 Ribalow Award finalists were “The Beautiful Possible” by Amy Gottlieb and “As Close to Us as Breathing”by Elizabeth Poliner.

The prize was established in 1983 in memory of Ribalow, a writer, editor and anthologist of American Jewish fiction. Ribalow was also a sports columnist for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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