Devora in Exile — Barbara Cherne

These four stories are about Devora Marcus, an elderly widow in Santa Monica, California. In The Conversion, Devora, a non-observant Jew, becomes a yoga master's disciple and undergoes a spirtual awakening, only to find out that she is, in fact, rooted in her Jewishness. Exile tells of a night Devora spends in her backyard contemplating mortality, time, and space. A Holocaust in My Breakfast Room is a chilling tale of elder abuse, with an imposter invading Devora's home and taking advantage of her generosity. The Countess recalls Devora's childhood; in it she tells her granddaughter about her childhood in Russia and illuminates a moment of courage and compassion during that tumultuous time.