Back to Jerusalem: A Novel

396 pp. "In the 1970s, in the small rural community of Jerusalem, New York, high school senior Jenny Thompson dreams of escaping to college and pursuing a career as an artist. The feminist wave has not reached Jerusalem, however. All Jenny's bitter, overbearing mother wants is for her to marry...well.  She ignores the poor but gentle Mennonite neighbor Jake's affections with whom she has forged a close heart-to-heart friendship and marries the richest and most popular boy in town. When her marriage ends in divorce, she goes to New York with her toddler son where she discovers new artistic talents and a growing sense of empowerment. At the peak of her success a turn of events reconnects her with Jake, now a high-powered attorney. Together they return to Jerusalem where a second chance in a changing world awaits them. Told with keen insight into character and an eye for nature's beauty, Surasky deftly illuminates the challenges of women seeking "liberation" in the 1970s. Back to Jerusalem is a poignant homecoming readers are sure to celebrate."