This enchanting true story, written when the author was ninety-three, is a moving tale of working-class life, social divide, and forbidden love on the eve of the first World War. The narrow street on which Harry grew up appeared identical to countless other working-class English neighborhoods--except for the invisible wall that ran down the center of the street, dividing the Jewish families on one side from the Christians on the other. The geographical distance may have been yards, but socially, it was miles. Families on either side did not speak or meet. But when Harry's older sister fell for the boy across the street, Harry became a go-between for the lovers, crossing the great divide to hide their secret. When the truth inevitably came out, Harry had to decide, at a very young age, what he believed was morally right.

Biography & Autobiography. Family & Relationships. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML:This wonderfully charming memoir, written when the author was 93, vibrantly brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. It is a moving tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love.
“There are places that I have never forgotten. A little cobbled street in a smoky mill town in the North of England has haunted me for the greater part of my life. It was inevitable that I should write about it and the people who lived on both sides of its ‘Invisible Wall.’ ”
The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the “invisible wall” that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, it they were miles apart.
On the eve of World War I, Harry’s family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry’s mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes that might secure Harry’s admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day be whisked off to the paradise of America.
Then Harry’s older sister, Lily, does the unthinkable: She falls in love with Arthur, a Christian boy from across the street.
When Harry unwittingly discovers their secret affair, he must choose between the morals he’s been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart.

In a memoir set on the eve of World War I, the author describes growing up in a working-class town in northern England, where Jews and Christians were strictly divided, and how his sister's love for a Christian boy broke down the invisible social barrier.

The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the "invisible wall" that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. On the eve of World War I, Harry's family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry's mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes that might secure Harry's admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day go to America. Then Harry's older sister does the unthinkable: she falls in love with a Christian boy from across the street.--From publisher description.

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. "A groundbreaking story of family secrets and forbidden love told in plain, beautiful prose through the eyes of a young Jewish boy…the chapters are tense with danger and with tenderness.". Bernstein's remarkable memoir of an obscure Lancashire mill town before, during, and after WWI would be a daunting task for any narrator. John Lee superbly captures the intricacies of various accents--the young Russian rabbi, the guest from Leeds, the headmaster of the fancy school, the drunk shopkeepers. The one place he falters is in his pronunciation of a few Hebrew words, but that can easily be forgiven in this masterful presentation. Writing when he was already in his 90s, Bernstein is one of the last people alive who can recall the smallest details, the gestures and innuendos, of a landscape and culture already extinct. R.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine. HTML:

This enchanting true story, written when the author was ninety-three, is a moving tale of working-class life, social divide, and forbidden love on the eve of the first World War.

The narrow street on which Harry grew up appeared identical to countless other working-class English neighborhoods—except for the invisible wall that ran down the center of the street, dividing the Jewish families on one side from the Christians on the other. The geographical distance may have been yards, but socially, it was miles. Families on either side did not speak or meet. But when Harry’s older sister fell for the boy across the street, Harry became a go-between for the lovers, crossing the great divide to hide their secret. When the truth inevitably came out, Harry had to decide, at a very young age, what he believed was morally right.

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The author describes growing up in a mill town in northern England where Jews lived on one side of the street and Christians lived on the other side.

The narrow street on which Harry Bernstein grew up was unremarkable, except for an invisible wall down the middle, dividing Jews on one side, from Christians on the other. This is the story of Harry's childhood in a Lancashire mill town before the First World War.

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...

The narrow street on which Harry Bernstein grew up was seemingly unremarkable; there was nothing to distinguish it from the hundreds of other such working class streets in the industrial north of England - save for an invisible wall down the middle, dividing Jews on one side, from Christians on the other. The geographical distance may have been a couple of yards, but socially, it was miles.'But there are few rules or unwritten laws that are not broken when circumstances demand, and few distances that are not too great to be travelled; and such was the case on our street. And I was to play an important part, unwittingly, in what happened...'THE INVISIBLE WALL is the enchanting story of Harry's childhood in a Lancashire mill town before the First World War. It's a wonderfully charming - and terribly moving - tale of working class life, of social divide and of forbidden love...

"The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the "invisible wall" that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, they were miles apart." "On the eve of World War I, Harry's family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry's mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: that new shoes might secure Harry's admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day be whisked off to the paradise of America." "Then Harry's older sister, Lily, does the unthinkable: She falls in love with Arthur, a Christian boy from across the street. When Harry unwittingly discovers their secret affair, he must choose between the morals he's been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart." "A memoir written when the author was ninety-three, The Invisible Wall brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. It is a tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love."--BOOK JACKET.

The enchanting true story of a love affair that broke down the walls that divided a neighborhood, bringing to mind the memoirs of Michael Patrick McDonald and Frank McCourt.

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. "A groundbreaking story of family secrets and forbidden love told in plain, beautiful prose through the eyes of a young Jewish boyâ?¦the chapters are tense with danger and with tenderness.".

A wonderfully charming memoir written when the author was 93, "The Invisible Wall" vibrantly brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. Bernstein offers a moving tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love.

Rev. ed of : 2007. With a new afterword by the author.

The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the $1! @(Binvisible wall$1.)

"There are places that I have never forgotten. A little cobbled street in a smoky mill town in the North of England has haunted me for the greater part of my life. It was inevitable that I should write about it and the people who lived on both sides of its 'Invisible Wall.' "The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the "invisible wall" that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, it they were miles apart.On the eve of World War I, Harry's family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry's mother, devoted to her...

On the eve of World War 1, the narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the "invisible wall" that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other.

"On the eve of World War I, in a small English mill town, Harry Bernstein's family struggles to make ends meet. Harry's father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry's mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes for young Harry, her daughter's marriage to the local rabbi. Then Harry's older sister does the unthinkable: She falls in love with a Christian boy. But they are separated by an "invisible wall" that divides Jewish families on one side of the street from Christian families on the other. When Harry unwittingly discovers that secret affair, he must choose between the morals he's been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart"--P. [4] of cover.

Harry Bernstein er født i 1910 i England og emigrerte sammen med familien til USA etter første verdenskrig. Han debuterte 96 år gammel med Den usynlige muren, og han arbeider nå med sin neste roman. Bernsteins selvbiografiske debutroman handler om hans barndoms gate i et av Englands arbeiderstrøk under første verdenskrig. Den skilte seg ikke ut fra andre slike gater, med unntak av at det var en usynlig, men nådeløs sosial mur mellom de kristne på den ene siden og jødene på den andre. Bernstein skriver en historie om kampen for tilværelsen, en fraværende far, en mor som bruker alle midler for at barna skal overleve og om kjærlighetens mange veier.