The Elected Member

Bernice Rubens was a Welsh novelist of Russian Jewish descent. Her book, The Elected Member, won the Man Booker prize in 1970. Rubens is quoted as saying that the only thing she ever writes about is families and this proves true in this complex novel as well. It is written in first person narrative, the perspective shifting to each of the main characters in due course. The novel centers on Norman Zweck, the son of a Rabbi and is considered the clever, brilliant one in his closely-knit Jewish family. This, until he becomes addicted to drugs at age 41 and is confined to his bedroom. The novel focuses on the obscure family environment and a series of interconnected upheavals with his parents and siblings. The author depicts life in the Jewish East End in a fascinating, masterful way.