This creative memoir tells the gripping story of the Hamerov family from 1938-1948. They lived
in a religious Eastern European Jewish immigrant community in Brooklyn, New York. To break the cycle of poverty, the parents decide to become hotelkeepers. Leo, the father, a Talmudic scholar, has serious health problems. Ida, the mother, is a resilient, driven woman, determined to succeed financially. All four children struggle with the expectations and demands made upon them.
Gloria Levi was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. A gerontologist of more than
thirty years, she worked as a recreation therapist, social worker, trainer/consultant, and
coordinator of volunteers. She is the mother of four, an ardent grandmother of eleven and great-
grandmother of eight.