Feeding Mrs. Moskowitz and The Caregiver

In this kindred pair of novellas, sisters Barbara Pokras and Fran Pokras Yariv explore the world of the elderly with deft humor and heart-wrenching detail. Pokras's "Feeding Mrs. Moskowitz" introduces us to the remarkable Golde Moskowitz, an elderly Russian widow living alone with her memories. In Golde's world, "signs" are everywhere, the dead converse with the living, and dreams are real. Natalie Holtzman, a thirty-six-year old graphic artist longing for connection, fills her world with work and with Artie, her commitment-phobic boyfriend. One sweltering summer morning, Natalie quite literally "runs into" Mrs. Moskowitz, and the lives of both women are forever changed. Yariv's "The Caregiver" unfolds in a series of stories, revealing the inner workings of Sunset Hills, a fictional upscale assisted-living facility in Hollywood. Narrated by Ofelia Hernandez, a young Latina caregiver, the stories capture both the mundane routines and the absurdities of the residents' lives. With deep empathy and subtle humor, Yariv crafts intimate characters whose passion, intensity, and intelligence are only magnified with age.