| The Family Moskat | |
| Author: | Isaac Bashevis Singer |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Yiddish |
| Pub Date: | 1950 |
| Media Type: | |
The Family Moskat is a novel written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, originally written in Yiddish. It was Singer's first book published in English.
Singer became a literary contributor to The Jewish Daily Forward only after his older brother Israel died in 1944.[1] That year, Singer started writing The Family Moskat in installments, and serialized in the Forward through 1945. The book was dedicated to the memory of his brother, Israel, who was previously the more famous of the brothers.[2] Its publication in English in 1950 led to its author's breakthrough as a celebrated writer.
His own style showed in the daring turns of his action and characters, with double adultery during the holiest of nights of Judaism, the evening of Yom Kippur (despite being printed in a Jewish family newspaper in 1945). He was nearly forced to stop writing the novel by his editor-in-chief, Abraham Cahan, but was saved by readers who wanted the story to continue. After this, his stories—which he had published in Yiddish literary newspapers before—were printed in the Forward as well. Throughout the 1940s, Singer's reputation grew.