Two Generations of Women …and a Stolen Menorah That Haunts Them

In Nine Tenths of the Law (Kasva Press), Claudia Hagadus Long tells the story of two generations of women and the stolen menorah that haunts them. It’s 1939 and a beautiful, heirloom menorah is ripped from the hands of Aurora, its young owner.  The Nazi who grabs it has eyes for more than just the menorah, and singles Aurora out for “special duties.”  Decades later, on another continent, she sees the menorah in a museum and tells her daughter, “That was mine.”  But it’s only after her death that sisters Zara and Lilly embark on a dangerous mission to reclaim what was once theirs.  Long talks to Fiction Editor Yona Zeldis McDonough about memory’s dual power to wound and to heal.