Being Esther is a poignant story that will be told more often as the population ages. Esther Lustig is an octogenarian widow who lives alone. She is in touch with her children and one last close friend. Esther’s daughter is waging a campaign to convince her to move to an upscale assisted living facility by leaving positive colorful brochures around, but Esther is adamantly against it. She has paid visits to a friend who lives there and finds it to be a depressing experience which is nothing like the advertisements. Esther spends her abundant free time trying to connect with her two children and grandchildren, participating in some social activities with one close friend who is at the same stage of life, and making small talk with the handyman and neighbors in her building. She reminisces with a clear eye about her years living with her grouchy husband. Esther’s world is small but she is comfortable in it. She considers her own mortality, accepting it gracefully. Esther has had a long conventional life with its own ups and downs; not the stuff that usually makes for a bestseller but is rightfully depicted by Miriam Karmel as a tale worth telling and reading.
Miriam Bradman Abrahams, mom, grandmom, avid reader, sometime writer, born in Havana, raised in Brooklyn, residing in Long Beach on Long Island. Longtime former One Region One Book chair and JBC liaison for Nassau Hadassah, currently presenting Incident at San Miguel with author AJ Sidransky who wrote the historical fiction based on her Cuban Jewish refugee family’s experiences during the revolution. Fluent in Spanish and Hebrew, certified hatha yoga instructor.
