Synopses & Reviews
Intimate, big-hearted, compassionate and clear-eyed, Brafmans novel turns secrets into truths and the truth into the heart of fiction.”
AMY BLOOM, author of
Lucky Us and
AwayFrom roots in one religious tradition, comes a tale of emotional redemption for all of us. Michelle Brafmans astonishing compassion for all human frailty infuses this story about the need for truth and the promise of forgiveness.” HELEN SIMONSON, author of Major Pettigrews Last Stand
Heartfelt and genuine, Washing the Dead never betrays the complicated truths of family and tradition.”
DAVID BEZMOZGIS, author of Natasha and Other Stories and The Betrayers
Like a Jewish Anne Lamott, Brafman reels you in with warmth, depth and heart.” SUSAN COLL, author of The Stager and Acceptance
Three generations of women confront family secrets in this exquisitely wrought debut novel that examines the experience of religious community, the perilous emotional path to adulthood, and the power of sacred rituals to repair damaged bonds between mothers and daughters.
Michelle Brafmans award-winning short stories and essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Slate, Tablet, Lilith Magazine, Bethesda Magazine and elsewhere. She teaches fiction writing at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland with her husband and two children.
Review
Jewish Book Council Spring 2015 Jewish Book Preview” featured title"A heartfelt story of loss, hope, and reconciliation." BOOKLIST
Brafmans tale of three generations of women shows that woundednessdamage to mind and soulcan travel down the generations, and that so can kindness, courage and, ultimately, self-healing. . . . [Washing the Dead] succeeds in showing how family history has a way of sneaking up on us from the depths of the past, shaping the present in ways both familiar and unexpected.” Haaretz
" . . . (a) beautifully wrought novel, one in which Brafman examines the inner lives of her characters with the dexterity of a surgeon and the compassion of a saint.” LILITH MAGAZINE
"Striking debut novel . . . poignant." THE JEWISH NEWS WEEKLY
Compelling.” THE NEW YORK JEWISH WEEK
A Washingtonian magazine "Book Washingtonians Should Be Reading"
Preparing the dead for traditional Jewish burial is considered the holiest and most sacred mitzvah that a Jew may perform because there is no way for the dead to repay the act of goodness. . . . In performing this mitzvah [in Washing the Dead], the protagonist cleanses herself of hatreds and misunderstandings that she has been carrying around since her youth.”
Jewish Book Council
Deeply moving. . . . We are eased into an Orthodox Jewish community and a family burdened by secrets as gently as if an old friend were guiding us every step of the way. . . . Washing the Dead is a profoundly hopeful book. I can think of few others that honor ordinary women as simply and as clearly as this one does. Read it to feel how much is possible in the world all around us.”
Best New Fiction
Brafman
puts her mother-and-daughter characters through the fire. Yet on the other side, each comes out refined, understanding that the legacy of ones family requires understanding and true forgiveness, which may be the greatest mitzvah of all.”
New Pages
Intimate, big-hearted, compassionate and clear-eyed, Brafmans novel turns secrets into truths and the truth into the heart of fiction.” AMY BLOOM, author of Lucky Us and Away
Heartfelt and genuine, Brafmans Washing the Dead never betrays the complicated truths of family and tradition.” DAVID BEZMOZGIS, author of The Betrayers and Natasha: and Other Stories
From roots in one religious tradition, comes a tale of emotional redemption for all of us. Brafmans astonishing compassion for all human frailty infuses this story about the need for truth and the promise of forgiveness.” HELEN SIMONSON, author of Major Pettigrews Last Stand
Sensual and spiritual, shot with betrayals, Washing the Dead plumbs the destructive power of secrets across three generations of mothers and daughters. In haunting prose, Brafman offers a riveting glimpse into Orthodox and Chasidic life, and breathtaking insight into what it means to forgive.” DYLAN LANDIS, author of Rainey Royal and Normal People Dont Live Like This
A rich tale of love, friendship, yearning, and forgiveness. Brafmans beautifully wrought prose quickly cuts to the heart of things: how to live, how to love, and how to care for the dead.” JESSICA ANYA BLAU, author of The Summer of Naked Swim Parties and The Wonder Bread Summer
Like a Jewish Anne Lamott, Brafman reels you in with warmth, depth and heart. Infused with lush detail about Orthodox Jewish life in the Midwest... Brafman has written a charming and original spiritual page-turner about love, forgiveness, and family life.” SUSAN COLL, author of The Stager and Acceptance
Throughout these pages, moving in shadow, runs the terrific responsibility of forgiveness and redemption. . . . Michelle Brafman has done us all a true mitzvah by writing this beautiful book.” ROBERT BAUSCH, author of Far as the Eye Can See and A Hole in the Earth
What a spectacular debut.” T. GREENWOOD, author of The Forever Bridge and Bodies of Water
Brafman offers a fresh, vital narrative about guilt, love, loss, and the necessity of wrestling with the dark angel of a painful family legacy until it blesses you. June Pupnick, one of the most bewitching and problematic fictional mothers Ive come across in years, makes a regular habit of escaping her life by gobbling up novels without chewing. Please resist gobbling this novel. Slow down, savor the richness and generosity of Brafmans storytelling, and then buy a copy for your most deserving friend.” MARGARET MEYERS, author of Dislocation and Swimming in the Congo
With the knife blade of her prose honed razor sharp, Brafman skillfully dissects the bonds of mother-daughter relationships.... She weaves together the sacred and the profane, reverberating silences, exile and return, atonement and forgiveness with the tenderness of a mother braiding the hair of a beloved daughter.” FAYE MOSKOWITZ, author of Her Face in the Mirror and A Leak in the Heart
An illuminating and intricately layered novel about the complicated legacies that pass from mother to daughter, and about the ways that understanding our own history helps make us who we are. Brafman is an insightful writer who never falters or flinches in her quest to uncover the hearts of her characters.” CAROLYN PARKHURST, author of The Nobodies Album and The Dogs of Babel
A riveting and humane account of family pain passed from one generation to the next.... How do we begin to forgive those who injured us? Start by reading Brafmans unflinching and inspiring novel.” MARY KAY ZURAVLEFF, author of Man Alive!, The Bowl Is Already Broken, and The Frequency of Souls
Synopsis
A Jewish woman confronts a lifetime of painful family secrets and makes peace with her mother's choices.
Synopsis
"Intimate, big-hearted, compassionate and clear-eyed, Brafman's novel turns secrets into truths and the truth into the heart of fiction." --
AMY BLOOM, author of
Lucky Us and
Away "From roots in one religious tradition, comes a tale of emotional redemption for all of us. Michelle Brafman's astonishing compassion for all human frailty infuses this story about the need for truth and the promise of forgiveness." --HELEN SIMONSON, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
"Heartfelt and genuine, Washing the Dead never betrays the complicated truths of family and tradition."
-- DAVID BEZMOZGIS, author of Natasha and Other Stories and The Betrayers
"Like a Jewish Anne Lamott, Brafman reels you in with warmth, depth and heart." --SUSAN COLL, author of The Stager and Acceptance
Three generations of women confront family secrets in this exquisitely wrought debut novel that examines the experience of religious community, the perilous emotional path to adulthood, and the power of sacred rituals to repair damaged bonds between mothers and daughters.
Michelle Brafman's award-winning short stories and essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Slate, Tablet, Lilith Magazine, Bethesda Magazine and elsewhere. She teaches fiction writing at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland with her husband and two children.
Synopsis
"With the knife-blade of her prose honed razor sharp, Michelle Brafman skillfully dissects the bonds of mother-daughter relationships."Faye Moskowitz
A suburban Milwaukee woman confronts her exile from a fondly remembered Chasidic childhood and discovers the destructive secrets that provoked her mother's mental illness. Her investigation of family history forces her to come to terms with painful personal memories and leads to a profound experience of the Jewish tradition of washing the dead.
Michelle Brafman's work has appeared in Blackbird, Lilith, the minnesota review, Slate, and Tablet. She teaches fiction writing at Johns Hopkins and George Washington University.
Synopsis
"With the knife-blade of her prose honed razor sharp, Michelle Brafman skillfully dissects the bonds of mother-daughter relationships."—Faye Moskowitz
In this debut novel from an award-winning short-story writer, a suburban Milwaukee woman confronts her exile from the fondly remembered Orthodox Jewish community ripped from her by her mother's affair. When the rabbi's wife summons her to perform the ritual burial washing of her beloved teacher, she returns to the spiritual and emotional home her mother burned down. Exhuming generations of secrets is the only way she can forgive her mother and in turn spare her daughter their crippling family legacy.
Michelle Brafman's work has appeared in Blackbird, Lilith, the minnesota review, Slate, and Tablet. She teaches fiction writing at Johns Hopkins and George Washington University.
About the Author
Michelle Brafman has received numerous awards for her fiction, including Special Mention in the
2010 Pushcart Prize Anthology, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story prize, and first place in the
Lilith Magazine fiction contest. Her short story "Washing the Dead," the basis of her novel, was nominated by
Gargoyle for a Pushcart prize. Her fiction has also appeared in
Fifth Wednesday Journal,
the minnesota review,
Blackbird, and elsewhere, and her nonfiction pieces have been published in
Slate,
Tablet, and
The Washington Post. A regular contributor to
Lilith Magazine's blog, she has led its salon discussions at theaters and arts centers throughout the Washington, DC area. Michelle is also a former documentary filmmaker whose film
American Lives: Jewish Stories, like
Washing the Dead, delves into anonymous corners of Judaism.
Michelle teaches fiction writing at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program and the George Washington University. She lives in Glen Echo, Maryland with her husband and two children.