In publishing-speak, here's what we at the LQ office sometimes describe as the Queer lovechild of Sholem Aleichem and Philip Roth:
Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying Talmud together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn the young people from their village to America. And suddenly a murder forces the study partners to follow them.
Traveling through Warsaw and Hamburg, Uriel and Ashel encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend, and the love of her life, has abandoned her to marry a man, and Essie Zucker, a scholarly girl who is taking the boat to America to support her family. When the group arrives at Ellis Island, Essie and Little Ash are detained by the US customs officials - Essie because of her vision, and Little Ash because he runs afoul of a doctor who is also a demon. It's up to the naive and trusting Uriel and the fiery Rose to help them get free, a task which will require the efforts of New York's angels, demons, and justice-minded humans combined.
But life on Manhattan's Lower East Side is not what Uriel, Little Ash, Rose or Essie expected, and soon they find themselves embroiled in a strike against the Boaz Brothers' Garment Factory together with a demon named Emma, an angel named Malke, and Little Ash's slick older brother - Junior. When a worker at the factory is murdered and Uriel and Little Ash find the body, they two of them set out to make sure justice is served. Along the way they realize that America has changed a lot about both of them, but not the way they feel about each other.
We're proud to introduce the world to Sacha Cohen with this brilliantly original immigrant fairy tale about humanity, community, and social justice in a world in desperate need of repair.
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