Heirs of Yesterday

Set in fin-de-siècle California, this novel intertwines a love story with themes of familial loyalty and the tension between American individualism and ethno-religious heritage. It addresses anti-Semitism in the U.S. and reflects on the late 19th-century Jewish community in San Francisco, particularly the rise of Reform Judaism. The introduction provides biographical insights into Emma Wolf and contextualizes her work within the literary realism movement, revealing the complexities of Jewish American identity at the turn of the 20th century.