English Summary/英文概要： A dazzling Sephardic multigenerational saga that moves from Istanbul to Barcelona, Havana, and New York, exploring displacement, endurance, and family as home.

A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, Kantika―“song” in Ladino―follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way―a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge―her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old.

Exploring identity, place and exile, Kantika also reveals how the female body―in work, art and love―serves as a site of both suffering and joy. A haunting, inspiring meditation on the tenacity of women, this lush, lyrical novel from Elizabeth Graver celebrates the insistence on seizing beauty and grabbing hold of one’s one and only life.

Awards/获奖情况： Winner of the National Jewish Book Award Winner of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award Named a Best Historical Fiction Book and a Notable Book of 2023 by The New York Times Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Lilith, and Libby Winner of the Julia Ward Howe Prize Winner of the Mass Book Award

Awarded the Edward Lewis Wallant Award/National Jewish Book Award for Sephardic Culture/2024 Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction/Julia Ward Howe Priz/ New York Times 10 Best Historical Fiction & Notable Books of 2023/Best Books of 2023, NPR, Libby and Lilith

“This exquisitely imagined family saga spans cultures and continents.”
―New York Times, Editors’ Choice & 100 Notable Books of 2023

“A highly readable and poignant tale of dislocation, refuge and resilience.”
―NPR, Best Books of 2023

“In Graver’s vision, migration is never simply a one-way street… Kantika is a meticulous endeavor to preserve the memories of a family, an elegy and a celebration both.”
―Ayten Tartici, The New York Times

“Graver delivers a luminous story of a Sephardic family. Fans of family epics will love this.”
―Publishers Weekly

“Beautiful and lyrical. [Kantika] is a piece of transnational, century-spanning Jewish history.”
―Kirkus Reviews