Every so often one comes across a book, movie, TV show, museum exhibition or something of the sort that inspires introspection, even if it’s just for a few moments. Andrew Sanger’s novel The J‑Word will probably have this effect on its readers. It’s the story of eighty-year-old Jack Silver, an old Jewish grinch who takes unlimited pride in his Englishness over his Jewishness. His life changes dramatically when he moves to an assisted living facility in Golders Green, reluctantly takes watch over his precocious ten-year-old grandson, Danny, and tries to assist an elderly Jew being attacked by anti- Semites. He ends up being beaten himself, and his brutal beating sets Jack and Danny off on a hunt to find the assailants and deliver them to justice.
Their journey takes them on a fascinating ride through Jack’s memories. Sanger’s method of alternating voices provides an added layer to the narrative by which he explores Jack’s lost and forgotten Jewish identity. These instances cause visceral reactions. A reader might then ask questions like, “What makes me Jewish?” “What is my Jewish identity?” “Do I have a choice in the matter?” The J‑Word is a reminder that while we may act totally secular, there is something deeply ingrained in Jewish identity that connects us all.
