The Dark Young Man

A bestseller upon its publication in 1877, Jacob Dinezon's debut novel is considered the first Jewish realistic romance. Dinezon, whom the Forward has described as "The Greatest Yiddish Writer You've Never Heard Of," was a leading figure in Jewish literary circles at the turn of the 20th century. Now, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Dinezon's 1919 death in Warsaw, Jewish Storyteller Press is publishing the first English translation of THE DARK YOUNG MAN.

Infusing European literary realism into a Russian-Jewish love story, THE DARK YOUNG MAN relates the efforts of a ruthless husband determined to preserve his authority over his wife's family by destroying the reputation of her younger sister's prospective bridegroom. Shady matchmakers and criminal intrigues conspire to keep the young lovers apart.

The novel evokes themes familiar to readers of Dinezon's more famous colleagues and friends Sholem Aleichem and I.L. Peretz: disparities between rich and poor, the impact of modernity on religious traditions, and the challenges of assimilation on Jewish identity.

Suspenseful and bittersweet, THE DARK YOUNG MAN offers those new to Dinezon's work an excellent introduction. For readers already aware of Dinezon's significance to the Jewish literary canon, the availability of this novel in English provides a meaningful and timely offering.