Marching to Zion

The tempestuous, tragic love story of a beautiful Jewish immigrant and a charismatic black man during the early twentieth century 
Mags Preacher, a young black woman with a dream, arrives in St. Louis from the piney woods of her family home in 1916, hoping to learn the beauty trade. She knows nothing about Jews except that they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Then she begins working for Mr. Fishbein, an Eastern European émigré who fled the pogroms that shattered his life to become the proprietor of Fishbein’s Funeral Home. By the time he saves Mags from certain death during the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, all her perceptions have changed. But Mr. Fishbein’s daughter, the troubled redheaded beauty Minerva, is a different matter. There is something wrong with the girl, something dangerous, something fateful. And it is Magnus Bailey, Mags’s first friend in the city, who learns to what heights and depths the girl’s willful spirit can drive a man. Marching to Zion is the tragic story of Minerva Fishbein and Magnus Bailey, a charismatic black man and the longtime business partner of Minerva’s father. From the brutal riots of East St. Louis to Memphis, Tennessee, during the 1920s and the Depression, Marching to Zion is a tale of passion, betrayal, and redemption during an era in America when interracial love could not go unpunished. Readers of Mary Glickman’s One More River will celebrate the return of Aurora Mae Stanton, who joins a cast of vibrant new characters in this tense and compelling Southern-Jewish novel that examines the price of love and the interventions of fate.

·       Unique literary terrain: Glickman once again takes readers into the Southern-Jewish experience, moving further back in time. While Home in the Morning explored the civil rights era in the South and One More River examined the 1930s, Marching to Zion focuses on the post-WWII-era South, starting with the East St. Louis race riots of 1917.·       Interracial love story: Two central characters,Minerva Fishbein and Magnus Bailey, fall in love during a time when the love between a white woman and a black man was considered a great sin.·       The amazing Aurora Mae: Readers of Glickman’s One More River will enjoy the return of Aurora Mae Stanton, who joins a cast of vibrant new characters in Marching to Zion.·       Jewish Book Council Network author and National Jewish Book Award finalist for One More River: Glickman will be at the JBC Network’s “Meet the Author” event in June 2013 to promote Marching to Zion. She booked many events through this network for her previous two novels, and we anticipate similar excitement for her third. ·       “One Book, One Community” program selection: “One Book, One Community” is a series of activities all over the Chicago area sponsored by the Spertus Institute, the Jewish United Fund, and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, centered around one book. Marching to Zion is the 2013 selection. “This moving novel . . . handled with credibility by the talented Glickman . . . is sustained by the rich period detail and by strong and fully realized characters.” —Booklist

“Coincidence or not, the publication of Marching to Zion on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of The March on Washington is a powerful reminder of the discrimi­nation and unspeakable hardships African Americans suffered. . . . Marching to Zion is a memorable story, with a very clear message that the journey is not over.” —Jewish Book Council

“Readers who are interested in Southern historical novels examining black-white relationships and those who enjoy good storytelling are the natural audience here.” —Library Journal

“Religion isn’t the only thing that stirs Glickman to fervor: she writes in a high-drama, no-holds-barred style when it comes to romance. . . . [An] entertaining novel about sins of the flesh and the redemptive power of belief.” —Publishers Weekly

“Glickman skillfully conveys the struggles of African-Americans and Jews during this era.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A powerful tale of love, hatred, violence, hope, and regeneration. At its center, lives entwined, are a black man and a Jewish refugee, each as staunch and tenacious as the Zion they both seek.” —Sonia Taitz, author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter
“A literary triumph, and easily the best novel I have read this year. Mary Glickman’s story of hope burns brightly through the darkness, driven by characters fighting to maintain dignity above all else.” —Sandi Krawchenko Altner, author of Ravenscraig
“Mary Glickman gives us a nuanced image of our twentieth-century selves, our society woven into stunning art. I see the Mississippi floods, the Jewish and African American dance of interconnection, and ultimately our paired journey toward Zion.” —Carolivia Herron, author of Thereafter Johnnie and Nappy Hair

Born on the south shore of Boston, Mary Glickman studied at the Université de Lyon and Boston University. While she was raised in a strict Irish-Polish Catholic family, from an early age Glickman felt an affinity toward Judaism and converted to the faith when she married. After living in Boston for twenty years, she and her husband traveled to South Carolina and discovered a love for all things Southern. Glickman now lives in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, with her husband, cat, and until recently, her beloved horse, King of Harts, of blessed memory. Home in the Morning is her first novel. Her second novel, One More River, was a 2011 Jewish Book Award Finalist in Fiction.“This moving novel . . . handled with credibility by the talented Glickman . . . is sustained by the rich period detail and by strong and fully realized characters.” —Booklist

“Coincidence or not, the publication of Marching to Zion on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of The March on Washington is a powerful reminder of the discrimi­nation and unspeakable hardships African Americans suffered. . . . Marching to Zion is a memorable story, with a very clear message that the journey is not over.” —Jewish Book Council

“Readers who are interested in Southern historical novels examining black-white relationships and those who enjoy good storytelling are the natural audience here.” —Library Journal

“Religion isn’t the only thing that stirs Glickman to fervor: she writes in a high-drama, no-holds-barred style when it comes to romance. . . . [An] entertaining novel about sins of the flesh and the redemptive power of belief.” —Publishers Weekly

“Glickman skillfully conveys the struggles of African-Americans and Jews during this era.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A powerful tale of love, hatred, violence, hope, and regeneration. At its center, lives entwined, are a black man and a Jewish refugee, each as staunch and tenacious as the Zion they both seek.” —Sonia Taitz, author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter
“A literary triumph, and easily the best novel I have read this year. Mary Glickman’s story of hope burns brightly through the darkness, driven by characters fighting to maintain dignity above all else.” —Sandi Krawchenko Altner, author of Ravenscraig
“Mary Glickman gives us a nuanced image of our twentieth-century selves, our society woven into stunning art. I see the Mississippi floods, the Jewish and African American dance of interconnection, and ultimately our paired journey toward Zion.” —Carolivia Herron, author of Thereafter Johnnie and Nappy Hair

A family of Eastern European refugees finds a home in racially charged St. Louis in this sweeping historical novel from a National Jewish Book Award finalist.

In 1916, Mags Preacher arrives in the big city of St. Louis, fresh from the piney woods, hoping to learn the beauty trade. Instead, she winds up with a job at Fishbein s Funeral Home, run by an emigre who came to America to flee the pogroms of Russia. Mags knows nothing about Jews except that they killed the Lord Jesus Christ, but by the time her boss saves her life during the race riots in East St. Louis, all her perceptions have changed.

Marching to Zion is the story of Mags and of Mr. Fishbein, but it s also the story of Fishbein s daughter, Minerva, a beautiful redhead with an air of danger about her, and Magnus Bailey, Fishbein s charismatic business partner and Mags s first friend in town. When Magnus falls for Minerva s willful spirit, he ll learn just how dangerous she can be for a black man in America.

Readers of Mary Glickman s One More River will celebrate the return of Aurora Mae Stanton, who joins a cast of vibrant new characters in a tale that stretches from East St. Louis, Missouri, to Memphis, Tennessee, from World War I to the Great Depression. Hailed as a powerful reminder of the discrimination and unspeakable hardships African Americans suffered, Marching to Zion is a gripping love story, a fascinating angle on history, and a compelling meditation on justice and fate (Jewish Book Council)."

The forbidden, tempestuous, and tragic love story of a beautiful Jewish immigrant and a debonair black man in the South during the early twentieth century
Mags Preacher, a young black woman with a dream, arrives in St. Louis from the piney woods of her family home in 1916, hoping to learn the beauty trade. She knows nothing about Jews except that they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Then she begins working for Mr. Fishbein, an Eastern European migr who fled the pogroms that shattered his life to become the proprietor of Fishbein's Funeral Home. By the time he saves Mags from certain death during the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, all her perceptions have changed. But Mr. Fishbein's daughter, the troubled redheaded beauty Minerva, is a different matter. There is something wrong with the girl, something dangerous, something fateful. And it is Magnus Bailey, Mags's first friend in the city, who learns to what heights and depths the girl's willful spirit can drive a man. Marching to Zion is the tragic story of Minerva Fishbein and Magnus Bailey, a charismatic black man and the longtime business partner of Minerva's father. From the brutal riots of East St. Louis to Memphis, Tennessee, during the 1920s and the Depression, Marching to Zion is a tale of passion, betrayal, and redemption during an era in America when interracial love could not go unpunished. Readers of Mary Glickman's One More River will celebrate the return of Aurora Mae Stanton, who joins a cast of vibrant new characters in this tense and compelling Southern-Jewish novel that examines the price of love and the interventions of fate.

The forbidden, tempestuous, and tragic love story of a beautiful Jewish immigrant and a debonair black man in the South during the early twentieth century. 

Born on the south shore of Boston, Mary Glickman studied at the Université de Lyon and Boston University. While she was raised in a strict Irish-Polish Catholic family, from an early age Glickman felt an affinity toward Judaism and converted to the faith when she married. After living in Boston for twenty years, she and her husband traveled to South Carolina and discovered a love for all things Southern. Glickman now lives in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, with her husband, cat, and until recently, her beloved horse, King of Harts, of blessed memory. Marching to Zion is her third novel. Her first novel, Home in the Morning, has been optioned for film by Jim Kohlberg, director of The Music Never Stopped (Sundance 2011), and her second, One More River, was a 2011 National Jewish Book Award Finalist in Fiction.