Songs for the Butcher's Daughter

Reminiscent of Nicole Krauss's The History of Love, Manseau's debut novel introduces readers to two people whose lives merge unexpectedly in the last years of the 20th century: Itsik Malpesh, a 90-something Russian poet and his 21-year-old American translator.

Review :
""Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" explores with profound insight the treacherous territory of language: its elusive, inconstant and enigmatic character and its fundamental role in how we define ourselves as human beings." -- Linda Olsson, author of "Astrid and Veronika" "Huge in scope and soul, "Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" is a sweeping, lyrical, utterly consuming epic. Peter Manseau is a writer with the heart of a mystic, and his novel is an extraordinary gift." -- Elisa Albert, author of "The Book of Dahlia" and "How This Night Is Different" "Peter Manseau has created a rich tapestry of European and American Jewish life at the turn of the twentieth century. This beautifully written novel of love and tragedy is a magic-realist tale filled with wonderful detail. We join Mr. Manseau on a hundred-year journey that weaves together the Old and New Worlds." -- Martin Lemelman, author of "Mendel's Daughter" "One of the most original and gripping novels I've read in a long time. From the very first page, I knew I was in the hands of a mesmerizing storyteller and born writer. Blessed with a biting wit, a huge heart, and a dazzling flair for language -- how we use it and how it defines us -- Manseau is the real thing. This is a gorgeous debut novel." -- Ellen Feldman, author of "The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank" "An extraordinary novel, and Itsik Malpesh is one of literature's most stunning achievements." -- Junot Diaz ""Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" is a completely original and exciting novel that, from its first few lines, holds the reader mesmerised. We are in the hands of a supreme storyteller, an author of wit and charm, one who has a breathtaking flair for language. This is a seriously impressive and accomplished work for a debut novel, identifying Manseau as a writer of great and exciting potential, one able to see the world vividly, even through other people's eyes." -- "Weekend Australian" "In his debut novel, [Manseau] reaches across cultures to compose a living, breathing portrait of a bad-tempered but charmingly eloquent poet and the young man chosen to bring his words forward in time...The translator's inexperience puts [poet] Malpesh's cynical voice into perspective, as the young man's clumsy first experiences with modern-day romance stand in stark, sometimes poignant contrast to Malpesh...who remembers his 90-something years with equal parts impish humor and profound melancholy...A terrific book with a believable protagonist who's given ample room to tell his tale." -- "Kirkus Reviews" ""Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" is a book about writing, a warm, funny, and fascinating testament to the power of words, a power that outlives a dying language and transcends love." -- "Jewish Book World" "Seductive and playful, the novel, with many unforgettable scenes, is also a serious meditation on language, love, loyalty and memory." -- "New York Jewish Week" "Ranging from pogroms to poetry, from the purity of sex to the impurity of translation, from the Pale of Settlement to the Lower East Side to Eretz Yisroael, [and] written with utmost integrity as well as dramatic momentum, "Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" is a delicious read." -- Melvin Jules Bukiet, author of "Sign and Wonders"