The Estate (Yiddish: דער הויף (Der Hoyf) is a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer. The story continues the narratives of The Manor in telling the history of late-19th century Polish Jews.
It was first published in serialized form in Yiddish by Forverts between 1953-1955, as a single work with the earlier The Manor and then published in English by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1969.
Contents
Plot
The novel continues the saga of Calman Jacoby, the protagonist of The Manor, tracing the history of the Polish-Jewish community in the village of Jampol until nearly the end of the 19th century.
The protagonist is Ezriel Babad, Calman's son-in-law and the rabbi's son. Other important characters in the novel include Clara, Calman's second wife (who was herself previously divorced); Olga, Ezriel's converted lover; Sasha, the son of Calman and Clara; and Zipkin, Clara's lover who will emigrate with her to New York. The characters grapple with the tensions between loneliness and a sense of belonging, between irony and faith, and between the possibility of secularism and an inalienable Jewish identity.
Reception
The novel was reviewed by Gerald Jonas for The New York Times. He praised it as a "sprawling chronicle" of Jewish life in Poland and noted the "richly detailed" portrayal of characters and community.