Book description
In a memoir of a Jewish man's search for his roots, the son of Holocaust survivors returns to his parents' homeland in Poland to rediscover the former glory of East European Jewry.
Why read it?
1 author picked Jewels and Ashes as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Zable writes of the haunted consciousness of post-conflict generations, in his case, the holocaust.
He argues that great stories must have both terror and beauty, or they merely add to the darkness. It is easy to see the terror, but what of the jewels? I grappled with this question too - how do we rightly remember victims of extreme violence? When I looked to Zable, I found a work imbued with poetry and lyricism.
Jewels and Ashes is a transcendent retracing of the terrain of his parents and grandparents.
From Georgina's list on The best books about truth-seeking post WWII.
If you love Jewels and Ashes...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like Jewels and Ashes?
Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Jewels and Ashes.
Share your top 3 reads of 2026!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
189
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Jewels and Ashes, you might also like...
Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation
Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation, is a raw and faith-centered memoir about life after military service—and the internal battles many never see. Brian Lofton shares his journey through addiction, shame, identity loss, and spiritual distance, revealing how the hardest struggles often begin after…
No Color Is My Kind
No Color is My Kind tells the stories of the desegregation of Houston, TX, in 1960, the life of civil rights leader Eldrewey Stearns, and the author's relationship to Stearns.
They met in a psychiatric case conference while Stearns was hospitalized at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After his…
