By the Waters of Paradise: An American Story of Racism and Rupture in a Jewish Family - Paperback

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In 2016, Clare Kinberg discovered her estranged Aunt Rose's death certificate on the internet. What followed was an unearthing of contradictions of what "family" means in a segregated United States. In the 1930s, Rose, an Ashkenazi Jewish woman, married Zebedee Arnwine, an African American man. The Arnwines faced a multitude of barriers due to their interracial marriage, and Rose faced familial and community ostracization for her choice. Her siblings, including Kinberg's father, kept her existence a secret from their children while building a strong sense of family and reinforcing the segregation between Jewish and Black communities. Eighty years later, Kinberg--whose own interracial, queer family moved in search of safe community--traced her aunt's quest for a safe place to live and her eventual choice to settle on Paradise Lake in Michigan. By the Waters of Paradise is a riveting family history that paints a startling portrait of racism and antisemitism and the lasting effects across generations.