Overview
Will Sam purge his guilty conscience before it’s too late? Will he atone for his offenses and find solace in the final countdown? Sam Fox spent his whole life running against the hands of time. He is now racing to set the record straight about secrets he and Hannah, his wife of 65 years, have been harboring from their children and each other. Hands of Gold, loosely based on real events, follows Sam on a journey that takes him from war-torn Europe at the turn of the 20th century, through the Great Depression and labor union reforms in America. Determined to make a lasting mark in his new homeland, Sam faces many hardships, not the least of which includes contracting tuberculosis, but he refuses to let this deter him from his ambitions. During a seemingly mundane workday, he shields 200 coworkers from a disgruntled gun-wielding employee. His actions saved the lives of many, making his escape from the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp – wherein his family suffered a deadly fate – a destined event. As Sam comes to grips with his past, a gold watch from his grandmother, lost and buried during the Holocaust, will find its way back to him. Through this and other blessings, Sam learns to find the silver lining in his everyday struggles by holding onto his loved ones, along with a little self-reliance and even a few miracles.
Full Product Details
Author: Roni Robbins
Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers
Imprint: Amsterdam Publishers
Dimensions:
Width: 167.60cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.535kg
ISBN: 9789493231870
ISBN 10: 9493231879
Pages: 258
Publication Date: 03 February 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"""An intriguing and realistic ... portrait of an immigrant's intricate journey."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""OHH my gosh! I started this book on Saturday night and was sobbing the next night as I completed it. Page 222 left me a mess for at least 20 minutes! Such a beautiful story. Truly!"" Kerri Miller ""My biggest take away from reading Hands of Gold was the feeling of how life can be hard, but also full of love. I don't think I would have survived after being told I had a terminal case of tuberculosis. Sam, the main character in the book, was told this at age 27 and overcame it three times! Immigrating to America with nothing, having 5 children and surviving on hard work (and sometimes charity) made me think today's society is truly standing on the shoulders of past generations. A marriage of 65 years is rare and the backbone of this story. I laughed, cried, learned some Yiddush, and recommend this book."" Andrew Robinowitz ""This book is based on the true story of the author's grandfather and his life, and spans generations of family touching this man's life. I enjoyed the intermingling of history with the warm, heartfelt story of hardship and triumphs this man experienced. The story engaged me from the start and kept me turning pages. And the ending had good closure. As a Catholic, it was interesting to me to learn more about the Jewish faith, the basis of my own faith. These days, when we can easily lose sight of goodness in the world, this book restored my faith in human nature. I would highly recommend it."" Jennifer Weber ""As a book reviewer, I am afforded the opportunity to read a wide variety of books. I have worked with major and independent publishers, read the hottest books months before they hit the bestsellers charts, and built relationships with some of my favorite authors. However, some of my most rewarding experiences have been discovering what I might call ""the hidden gems."" These books are often not the ones my fellow reviewers have on their radar, or the ones that big publishers are putting their marketing dollars behind. They are the stories that shine all on their own. Hands of Gold stole my heart right from the start when, in 1991, Sam's daughter gives him a tape recorder to keep him busy at the nursing home while he awaits his wife's return from the hospital after a broken hip. ... As Sam grows and his struggles increase, his storytelling style doesn't lament the terrible or brag about the wonderful. He delivers his tale in such a way as to intoxicate and fully submerge the reader into his daily life and experiences. A majority of the book spans the 20th century, but the topics are still extremely relevant today--consider books about the Holocaust being banned, the rise of anti-Semitic hate crimes, and Russian troops being stationed at Ukraine's borders. Author Roni Robbins has produced a masterpiece of fiction based loosely on the lives of her immigrant ancestors. Her characters are strong yet tender, broken but resilient. Hands of Gold should not only be at the top of any Jewish-American novel lists but also be added to any current event and outstanding debut collections."" Rhiannon Johnson ""Ever since I saw the title, I was taken away by it, and when I started reading it, I couldn't put it down till the last line!!! It traces the journey of the Fox family, which is a sort of fictitious representation of one of the author's own family members. In tracing the dauntless journey of Sam Fox, a fictional doppelgänger of the author's grandfather, I was somehow reminded me of Viktor Frankl's notion of Logotherapy: the will to live and find a ray of hope even in the darkest times. Falling in the slippery domain of historical fiction, the book has a smooth narrative involving a balance of fact and fiction that is easy to understand even by a person who isn't well acquainted with specifics of any historical background. With a seamless amalgam of historicity and fiction, Hands of Gold is bound to take you on a hopeful journey."" Mehak Burza"
The author carries us through the lifetime of a fascinating Jewish man who used his wonderful hands to survive. They also were filled with romance as he and his wife spent 6 decades together. The reader will look at his own hands and wonder out loud if they have been as energized as those of the hero. I, too, ask myself - how many special traits do my ten fingers possess? Robbins' book offers each of us our own personal answer. David Geffen is an American-born historian, author and rabbi living in Jerusalem. His writing has appeared in such publications as The Jerusalem Post. Author Roni Robbins weaves together a historic novel inspired by true events that is a page-turning credit to her literary talents. Her book Hands of Gold is a testament to her storytelling ability, a timeless treasure lost in the horrific tragedies of war, with a spirited main character who lived through one challenge after another. Robbins portrays the spirit of a man, though broken, who is memorable as he holds onto life, time and what truly matters most. An amazing book about resilience, worthy of your immediate attention. Robyn Spizman is a media personality and an award-winning New York Times bestselling author who has written more than 50 books. Where are all your great miracles now? the story begins, in the hoarse, wry, honest voice of the much-travelled, much-aggrieved Sam Fox, a Zelig of a fictional spinoff of the author's grandfather. An Eastern European immigrant, born at the start of the new century - My birth was not the greatest timing, I know. But who was I to question such a thing? - he managed to taste, and to suffer, much of what midcentury America had to offer, from the golden age of TV & radio to a mass shooting at a workplace. A natural-born survivor, skipping across borders, changing identities, harboring secrets, Sam always made time to relish moments of happiness, always displaying - even when on the run, even when grieving his loved ones - a tremendous love of life. Melissa Fay Greene, a two-time National Book Award finalist, is the author of Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing Based on the lives of her immigrant forebears from Hungary and their American-born children, Roni Robbins has written an absorbing and richly detailed novel about the struggles and triumphs of people who made their way in the promised land of America during the last century. The novel traces the lives of the many members of the Fox family. The characters are vividly drawn and the novel contains many moving stories and episodes. One, in particular, that stands out in the mind of the reviewer involves the journey of Mo Fox to Europe in the wake of the Holocaust to retrieve a family heirloom that represents the title of the novel. Readers interested in learning much about the story of the Jewish immigrant experience in America will find Ms. Robbins' novel a richly rewarding experience. Sheldon Neuringer is a retired history professor and published author of stories about history and Jewish life, including two novels about Jewish youths growing up in New York. He recently wrote a short story, For the Love of Yiddish
Author Information
Hands of Gold capitalizes on award-winning author Roni Robbins' 35 years as a published writer. Currently an editor/writer for Medscape/WebMD after serving as associate editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times/The Times of Israel, she has a seasoned history as a staff reporter for daily and weekly newspapers and as a freelancer for national, regional and online publications. Robbins' freelance articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, Forbes, the New York Daily News, Adweek, WebMD and Healthline. She wrote for the Mother Nature Network; The Forward; FromTheGrapevine; and Hadassah magazine, among others. Robbins was also a staff writer for Florida Today/USA Today, The Birmingham News and the Atlanta Business Chronicle/American City Business Journals. In addition to major CEOs and politicians, she has interviewed such celebrities as Wolf Blitzer, Andy Gibb, Hank Aaron and Usher. In 2009, Hands of Gold was a quarterfinalist for historical fiction in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Robbins also won three Simon Rockower Awards for Jewish journalism from the American Jewish Press Association, including an investigative piece about Jewish seniors who feel Out of Touch in nursing homes. Other prestigious news-writing awards come from The State Bar of Georgia, the Alabama Associated Press and the South Carolina Press Association. Hands of Gold is her first novel.
