The Invisible Wall

An extraordinary portrait of a lost world - powerful, moving and utterly unforgettable...

A compelling narrative of childhood survival ... the tale has a freshness, a vitality and a relentless energy ... extraordinarily powerful. The Invisible Wall is a triumph of the human spirit over multi-faceted adversity.

Extraordinary ... spare, uncomplicated, and terribly vivid for it

[A] heart-wrenching memoir ... the setting, beautifully rendered, recalls early DH Lawrence. It is a world of pain and prejudice, evoked in spare, restrained prose that brilliantly illuminates a time, a place and a family struggling valiantly to beat impossible odds.  As an emotional experience and a vivid retelling of the author's past, it exerts uncommon power.

A remarkable memoir ... vivid, compassionate and notably unsentimental

[An] affecting debut ... the nonagenarian gives voice to a childhood version of himself who witnesses his older sister's love for a Christian boy break down the invisible wall that kept Jewish families from Christians across the street. Yet when major world events touch the poverty-stricken block, the individual coming-of-age is intensified without being trivialized, and the conversational account takes on the heft of a historical novel with stirring success.

A fascinating, poignant story ... which leaves one with a sense of hope

William Woodruff, author of The Road to Nab End

A superb story ... A delightful, fascinating read which held me spell-bound throughout.

97-year-old Harry Bernstein emigrated to the USA with his family after the First World War. He has written all his life, but started writing THE INVISIBLE WALL following the death of his wife of 67 years, Ruby. He lives in Brick, New Jersey.

Harry Bernstein was born into a world of hardship and suffering in a northern mill town, in the shadow of the First World War. 
 
His brutish father spends what little he earns at the tailoring shop on drink, while his devoted mother survives on her dreams - that new shoes might secure Harry's admission to a fancy school, that her daughter might marry well, and that one day they might all escape this grinding poverty for the paradise of America. 
 
But as the years go by, life for the Bernsteins on their narrow cobbled street remains a daily struggle to make ends meet. For young Harry though, most distressing are his fears for his adored elder sister Lily, who is risking all by pursuing a forbidden love...

Harry Bernstein

Deeply touching ... a thoroughly engrossing book: earnest without being sentimental, by turns breathless, lyrical and pain-spaking in it's prose ... capturing the bewilderment and thrill of growing up

A wonderful memoir ... moving, evocative and fresh; I read it late into the night and longed for more.

Bernstein describes their struggles and perseverance without a trace of self-dramatisation or self-pity, in quiet prose that sometimes touches poetry.

A fitting sequel to the very moving The Invisible Wall. The warmth of the author's personality comes through in every incident he describes. Harry Berstein's story of his family's emigration from England to an America on the brink of the Depression is told with a convincing simplicity of style which effortlessly holds the reader to the last page. If you enjoyed The Invisible Wall you will certainly enjoy The Dream.

On a narrow cobbled street in a northern mill town young Harry Bernstein and his family face a daily struggle to make ends meet. This is the true story of those harsh years, overshadowed by the First World War. 
 
Amidst the hardship and suffering, Harry's devoted mother clings to a dream - that one day they might escape this grinding poverty for the paradise of America. But the regular pleas to relatives in Chicago yield nothing, until one day, when Harry is twelve years old, the family looks on astonished as he opens a letter which contains the longed-for steamship tickets. 
 
But the better life of which they'd dreamed proves elusive. Deprivation follows them to Chicago - and for Harry, life becomes more difficult still as he finds himself torn between his responsibilities to his mother, and his first love...

Harry Bernstein

Praise for The Dream

Deeply touching ... a thoroughly engrossing book: earnest without being sentimental, by turns breathless, lyrical and pain-spaking in it's prose ... capturing the bewilderment and thrill of growing up

[A] wise, unsentimental memoir

A wonderful memoir ... moving, evocative and fresh; I read it late into the night and longed for more.

Deeply touching ... a thoroughly engrossing book: earnest without being sentimental, by turns breathless, lyrical and pain-spaking in it's prose ... capturing the bewilderment and thrill of growing up

[A] wise, unsentimental memoir

A wonderful memoir ... moving, evocative and fresh; I read it late into the night and longed for more.

Deeply touching ... a thoroughly engrossing book: earnest without being sentimental, by turns breathless, lyrical and pain-spaking in it's prose ... capturing the bewilderment and thrill of growing up

[A] wise, unsentimental memoir

A wonderful memoir ... moving, evocative and fresh; I read it late into the night and longed for more.

Books by Harry Bernstein

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