This year’s book, ‘In Another Time,’ engaging and thrilling

By Deb Silverthorn
Time machines may not be real, and time not always linear, but it’s the gaps in between Jillian Cantor’s “In Another Time” that offer a spinning story. Beginning at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 28, at the Aaron Family JCC’s Zale Auditorium, Cantor will introduce her book at the Tycher Library Community Read, part of the 2019/2020 Aaron Family JCC’s Margot Rosenberg Pulitzer Dallas Jewish BookFest.
“‘In Another Time’ is my idea of what the rise of the Nazis looked like in that moment — how many didn’t know what was happening and what day-to-day lives were like,” said Cantor, author of “Margot,” “The Hours Count” and “The Lost Letter.” This 2019 publication is a transporting love story, unfolding through decades and across continents, in alternating viewpoints.
In 1931 Germany, bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist. As their love affair unfolds, the climate drastically changes as Hitler comes to power. Following Max in the years leading to WWII, and Hanna the decade after, “In Another Time” is a story of love and loss, passion and music and a family secret that may provide survival.
“I have loved Cantor’s work. She creates well-crafted page-turners and I’m looking forward to this,” said Linda Blasnik, a Tycher librarian for 10 years. “She creates a fantasy element, that is really thrilling.”
The author, who credits her fourth grade teacher for weekly assignments that introduced her to writing, enjoys Skyping and in-person discussions.
“I enjoy writing what I like reading,” said Cantor, a Philadelphia native, now living in Arizona with her family. “Music has always been a part of my life. Hanna’s character came to me while I was at the symphony during 2016’s election season. I listened, and thought, ‘no matter what happens, we’ll have beautiful music.’”
Rabbi Mordechai Harris, executive director of the Center for Jewish Education (CJE) & Rabbi in Residence at the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, will open the program co-sponsored by the CJE with support of the Jewish Book Council which is free and open to the public.
“This book is poignant and has such poetic flair. It’s beautiful. We’re happy to have Jillian here in person,” said CJE Coordinator of Projects and Administration, Karen Schlosberg. “The book is meaningful and her personal notes, of why she wrote it — that we can never forget our history — resonates.”
The Tycher Library, on the JCC’s third floor, houses 7,000-plus books, periodicals and more than 700 DVDs. In 1981, brothers Fred and Martin Tycher, of blessed memory, dedicated the library honoring their parents. The Tycher Library now pays tribute to the whole family’s dream to inspire Jewish learning through literature.
Texas Jewish Post contributor Harriet Gross helped launch the Community Read in 2006 after being inspired by citywide programs in Chicago and here in Richardson. Thirteen years later, the event is a go-to.
“The idea of a community reading and discussing one book was stimulating, to spark participation by asking groups to do something together with the book,” said Gross, who first shared it with then-librarian Joan Gremont. “Our first was ‘The Book Thief.’ Then, and ever since, we’ve shared good discussions and meaningful events and as the great ‘they’ say, the rest is history.”
Dallas’ Andrea Peskind Katz, reviewer of GreatThoughts.com and behind the Great Thoughts Great Readers Facebook book salon, with nearly 5000 readers and authors, is thanked by Cantor in her book’s acknowledgements. Katz says, “this is Jillian’s best, she’s a great speaker and ‘In Another Time’ is an on-target choice for the Community Read.”
The Tycher Community Read, and its Spring Read “Gateway to the Moon,” March 5, join this year’s BookFest schedule that includes themes of cooking, historical fiction, business entrepreneurship and fantasy.
For details, or to RSVP for “In Another Time” (by Oct. 23), visit jewishdallas.org/fallread. For overall BookFest details visit jccdallas.org/special-events/bookfest.