JRC Book Group: Liberty Street: A Savannah Family, Its Golden Boy, and the Civil War by Jason Friedman (Historical Fiction)

Join the engaging conversation with your JRC community! JRC’s Book Group meets on the second Sunday of every month, typically over Zoom. All are welcome! Please RSVP to Jill Berkeley to let her know you’ll be attending.

This month’s book is: Liberty Street: A Savannah Family, Its Golden Boy, and the Civil War by Jason Friedman (Historical Fiction)

Purchasing a historic Savannah home unlocks the sweeping story of a Southern Jewish family. As Jason K. Friedman renovated his flat in a grand townhouse in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, he discovered a portal to the past. The Cohens, part of a Sephardic community in London, arrived in South Carolina in the mid-1700s; became founding members of Charleston’s Jewish congregation; and went on to build home, community, and success in Savannah.

At the center of the story is a sensitive young man pulled between love and duty, a close-knit family straining under moral and political conflicts, and a city coming into its own. Friedman draws on letters, diaries, and his experiences traveling from Georgia to Virginia, uncovering hidden histories and exploring the ways place and collective memory haunt the present. At a moment when the hard light of truth shines on gauzy Lost-Cause myths, Liberty Street is a timely work of historical sleuthing.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89044305909?pwd=MDNTYk1BZ3hMeWtyUzBFVU9ocEpsUT09

Meeting ID: 890 4430 5909
Passcode: 352842