Anna in chains

by Merrill Joan Gerber

In this collection of short stories, the reader meets Anna Goldman who is nearly eighty years old, widowed and living on her own in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles. As she makes her determined, irreverent way through the maze of modern society, she struggles to maintain her independence and remain connected to the world. Jewish, but disenchanted with religion in any guise, Anna eats bacon to dare God's wrath. Living in a mixed ethnic neighborhood, Anna pronounces her prejudices against all foreigners, wondering where the values of the world she remembers have gone. A pianist herself, Anna takes on the job of entertaining the old folks at the senior citizen center, but realizes that "Mozart you can't give them." She disapproves of the way her grandsons are being raised and when she visits her older sister (still "big and bossy") in Miami Beach, she has a romantic encounter with a dreamer named Irving who courts her with words, since it's far too late for deeds.