The Liberation of Rebecca Stern

As she poises her pen over the pages of her diary, Rebecca Stern is not concerned with literary value. For her, the diary is simply a means of survival--a place of recreation and a vehicle to paradise. After Rebecca leaves Earth before the age of fifty, her family gifts her letters, papers, and diary pages to an editor friend who reads it in amazement. After receiving approval from Rebecca's husband, the friend shares Rebecca's life story--told through both poetry and short stories--as well as her own commentaries. Ranging from the humorous to the tragic, Rebecca's words are always thoughtful and heartfelt as she reveals a glimpse into the grit and grime of life. In poetry, stories, and fairy tales that reflect on daily routines, love, death, eternity, and the disadvantages of being a woman as well as highlight an eclectic group of characters, Rebecca uses her diary to create people, situations, and a reality that pleases her better than her own. Through it all, it soon becomes evident that Rebecca writes for no one but herself. The Liberation of Rebecca Stern is a riveting and sometimes shocking collection of diary entries penned by a Jewish housewife and bequeathed to a friend following her death.