VOYAGER BELSKY

by Monroe Engel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 21, 1962

This is a novel about love and responsibility, well and warmly written. Francesco Belsky is a Russian Jew, born and raised in Italy, now living in New York- a voyager seeking the stability he envies in his parents' marriage and release from a past incident. When he marries Cora, the widowed sister of his best friend Peter, the past is revealed. During the war, he and Peter were both involved with the same woman and Belsky was jealous. When, because of her, a third man was accidentally killed, Belsky assumed the guilt and this long-nurtured resentment now breaks up Belsky's marriage to Cora. He leaves her, runs off to Maine, and takes a job on a small island as a carpenter. He learns to get along with the alcoholic who employs him and with his landlady, and he has a gentle, touching affair with a dying older woman. Ultimately he learns to get along with himself and through further tragedy is freed of his crippling guilt.... It is a careful exploration of personal relationships, written with style and economy; the people are real and what is said and done between them is gentle and human. This marks an advance on his early work.

Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1962

Categories: FICTION