The Stories in Me by Shirley Russak Wachtel

The Stories in Me

Shirley Russak Wachtel

I have always loved books.  An unusual statement considering I was never read to as a young child, nor did my parents accompany me as I wandered down the aisles in the children’s section of the library, scanning the covers.  As Holocaust survivors newly arrived in Brooklyn, New York, they struggled with the language, my father operating sewing machines in a clothing factory by day and conjugating verbs in school by night as my mother cooked chicken soup and made sure my brother and I were protected and warm.  Even so, despite the lack of help when it came to reading, I fell in love.

Books were my solace as we moved from Borough Park to Brownsville to Flatbush, following my father as he opened a laundromat or a luncheonette in each town.  As I entered each new classroom, standing outside the circle of girls in the playground, books became my constant, my one true companion.  Books by Beverly Cleary and a series of Nancy Drew mysteries purchased by my father, all sitting on the shelf in my bedroom like quiet little gems.  My favorite was Jane Eyre, as I saw myself in that solitary young girl with romantic dreams.  Like the other books, I would read it again and again as I held a flashlight under the bed covers at night. 

Through these books, a lonely girl who was once called out for being “the quietest girl in the class” could be transformed into a savvy sleuth or the popular confidante of a shy girl just like me.  But reading these stories, while inspiring, somehow just wasn’t enough.  I began to dip my toe into the possibility of writing my own stories.  After all, I had a multitude of tales within me—stories of loss and healing, like those experienced by my parents, stories of alienation, stories of secret dreams and adventures.  And, with the encouragement of my seventh-grade teacher, Miss Miller, I began to write.  The Mystery of the Three Red Gowns, penned with a friend, never got farther than my dresser drawer, but gave me more confidence.  Besides, listening to my stories always made my parents proud. 

At thirteen, I knew that I would become a writer one day.  Heck, I already was one!  But to be a professional author, that was something else.   That possibility was about as remote as my landing on the moon.  Once in my  twenties, after years as a freelance reporter, editor and columnist, jobs which never quite fulfilled  my creative urges, I finally settled on Plan B.  I would embark on a teaching career, a job which involved my beloved books and the possibility of inspiring my students in much the same way Miss Miller had inspired me.  I began as a high school English teacher in Brooklyn and later became a tenured professor at Middlesex College where I have worked for over thirty years.  During this time, I also earned a Doctor of Letters degree, the program further inspiring me to write.  After starting work at the college, it soon became apparent that I hadn’t settled at all.  The classroom was a place where I could share my love of reading and inspire others to read and maybe even to find the joy I found in a good book.  

Each semester as I introduce my class of multicultural students to the literature, I am energized once again during our discussions of books like Elie Wiesel’s Night or Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.  I recall the days when I too lived inside each book, frozen with fear or sobbing in despair, and hopeful, always hopeful, for a happy ending.  Some of my students, to my surprise, had never read a novel in its entirety.  Discussions with these students were perhaps the most gratifying as, with tears in their eyes, they would mourn a character’s death or smile as they felt the caress of a mother in these literary works.  That’s when I knew that, like me, they were living inside books too.  

As much as I have loved teaching and still do, I found that it was not quite enough.  I wanted to recreate the experience, the feelings I had discovered in novels.  I too had a story to tell, and so I continued to write.

A Castle in Brooklyn is one such story.  It follows Jacob, orphaned in the Holocaust, who with his new friend, Zalman, makes a daring escape from Nazi soldiers to forge a new life, one of hope, in America.  The dream is to build a house he can call  his own.  Jacob, his wife, Esther, and his dear friend, Zalman by his side, make the dream a reality, but then unexpected tragedy ensues which threatens to destroy his friendship, his marriage and even Jacob himself.  And yet, somehow, the home continues to offer hope to Jacob, Esther, and others who seek a new life within its walls.

A Castle in Brooklyn is the story of my parents forging a home in America, but it is also the story of that little girl who yearned for friendship and a family of her own.  I hope my students can see themselves in this story—I hope all of us can—just as I did, reading Jane Eyre under the covers, flashlight in hand. 

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Shirley Russak Wachtel is the author of THIS I KNOW, THREE for a DOLLAR, and THE MUSIC MAKERS. She is also the author of a book of poetry, IN the MELLOW LIGHT, and several books for children. Her short stories and poems have appeared in various literary journals. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Wachtel is now a college professor in New Jersey where she lives with her husband, Arthur. She has earned a Doctor of Letters Degree from Drew University, and in 2017 she received the Middlesex County College Scholar of the Year Award. But her proudest achievement are her three sons and two granddaughters, Zoey and Emmy.

Follow her on Twitter @ShirleyWachtel

A CASTLE IN BROOKLYN

Spanning decades, an unforgettable novel about reckoning with the past, the true nature of friendship, and the dream of finding home.

1944, Poland. Jacob Stein and Zalman Mendelson meet as boys under terrifying circumstances. They survive by miraculously escaping, but their shared past haunts and shapes their lives forever.

Years later, Zalman plows a future on a Minnesota farm. In Brooklyn, Jacob has a new life with his wife, Esther. When Zalman travels to New York City to reconnect, Jacob’s hopes for the future are becoming a reality. With Zalman’s help, they build a house for Jacob’s family and for Zalman, who decides to stay. Modest and light filled, inviting and warm with acceptance―for all of them, it’s a castle to call home.

Then an unforeseeable tragedy―and the grief, betrayals, and revelations in its wake―threatens to destroy what was once an unbreakable bond, and Esther finds herself at a crossroads. A Castle in Brooklyn is a moving and heartfelt immigration story about finding love and building a home and family while being haunted by a traumatic past.

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