The Cafeteria

A very poignant story centered around a cafeteria on the upper west side of Manhattan, where the elders of the Jewish community meet each day. It might also be called an "almost-love story", a narration of the brief encounters of the two main characters: Aaron, a writer and author; and Esther, a factory worker who lives with her aged father, the both of them survivors from the Nazi labor camps of World War II. As with virtually all of Isaac Bashevis Singer's works, it draws heavily on his own Polish background; strong narrative, a passion for life and tradition.