Tsugele's Broom

Tsugele’s Broom tells the story of an independent-minded, young woman whose parents are set on finding a suitor for her and tying her to an arranged marriage. The author accomplishes the feat of making the story sound as though it were a folktale passed from generation to generation though, in fact, it is a tale of the author’s devising. The story is set in an East European village - a pre-Holocaust, Jewish shtetl. With good humor, Tsugele agrees to meet with several wholely unsuitable suitors who come courting. She sends them packing and sets off from her parents’ home unafraid to make her own way in life and satisfied that she may or may not one day find a partner with whom she can share that life as an equal. Eventually she does meet just such a partner, but she finds him in a most unusual and unexpected way. The message of Tsugele’s tale is serious, but the story is told using humor and whimsy and colorful, cartoon-like illustrations.