The singing fire

Set in the crowded lanes of London's Jewish East End during the late 1800s, this novel moves between a historic immigrant neighborhood and the wealthier streets of the West End. Nattel, who brings a hint of magical realism to her writing, evokes the city at the turn of the century through its sex workers and rabbis, peddlers and painters, garment sweatshops and Yiddish theater.

Nehama and Emilia each reach London alone, inexperienced and hopeful about the freedom they might find there. Both are trying to leave their pasts behind. Nehama makes her way in the ghetto, while Emilia lives among the privileged of the West End. A child links their lives.

The book looks at how people connect: strangers who show kindness, the strength of friendships between women, the ties between mothers and daughters, and the meaning of family, whether it is the family you are born into, the one you find, or the one you choose to build.