Although the title of Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg’s latest book “Miriam’s Well: A Modern Day Exodus,” nods at the Bible, this novel’s contemporary protagonist is at most a very loose interpretation of her ancient namesake. The modern Miriam’s journey to self-discovery is as much or more formed by her experience of a mid-20th-century landscape of tumultuous change and unrest, as it is by spiritual or cultural Judaism.
“Miriam’s Well” took 14 years to write, according to Mirriam-Goldberg, who advanced her 13-year-old draft to its conclusion through years of research and most critically, finding out who Miriam was. Although Mirriam-Goldberg said she often writes about her own experiences, there is no autobiographical element in the character of Miriam. This made it challenging for Mirriam-Goldberg to get to know Miriam.
“I read a lot about Midrash and Miriam.”
With her Miriam reflecting a very American presence and outlook, Mirriam-Goldberg also studied specific events and places in American history as part of her research. She found additional context for her story in some of her travels around the country. “There were some trips that we were taking anyway that became even more important in relation to this book.”
The idea for a fresh take on the person of Miriam originated with other women writers Mirriam-Goldberg admired, who had written about Midrash. “I’ve always been drawn to Miriam’s role,” Mirriam-Goldberg said.
According to Mirriam-Goldberg, the driving force in Miriam is finding her people and place in this world, which is not easy for Miriam as the child of a black father and white mother in the 1960s. While Miriam is more able to pass as white, her brothers, Aaron and Moses, don’t have that advantage. “It makes her more aware of issues relating to privilege and oppression.”
Like the Bible’s narrative of the Exodus, Mirriam-Goldberg’s story is propelled by a sense of movement within and without its protagonist. Beginning with Miriam’s family relocating to Israel from New York City following a chance encounter with a rabbi on a subway during a blackout, the rabbi convinces Miriam’s family to set out for Israel, where they experience losses so great amidst the Six-Day War they all returned to the U.S., scattering all over the country. While her brothers wind up in New York City and Western Kansas, respectively, Miriam remains free-spirited and rootless, wandering the country, searching for something inside, from without.
In her wandering, Miriam winds up where she is needed, feeding and serving those at auspicious events and places in the collective memory of the country, from People’s Park during the summer of love to the 9/11 terrorist attack to Hurricane Katrina. “She’s very heroic but she would never think of herself that way.”
Then, there is the food. Mirriam-Goldberg weaves a love of cooking through Miriam’s life and world. Particularly, Miriam has a passion for bringing people together around a meal. “She’s very much a person who gathers and coalesces community wherever she goes.”
In fact, food is such a focus in the book that Mirriam-Goldberg organized a recipe collection to include in the book. “The recipes actually got added extremely late in the game.” According to Mirriam-Goldberg, some of the recipes are her own, but the others came from Lady Bird Diner in Lawrence, Kansas. Mirriam-Goldberg said the recipes come from all over to reflect Miriam’s nomadic existence. “There’s no recipe in the back that doesn’t have a role in this book.”
Like a great meal, “Miriam’s Well” has already gathered fans around it. Congregation Beth Torah’s Founding Rabbi Mark H. Levin, author of “Praying the Bible,” said “This startlingly insightful and quietly confrontational novel by poet Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg courageously inserts the biblical prophet Miriam into many of the most daunting and provocative ethical conflicts since the early ’60s civil rights revolution, as though we are Israel after the Exodus from slavery and before the Promised Land. Mirriam-Goldberg’s story calls on readers to consider ‘Have I done enough?’ and ‘What is it that the Lord requires of you?’ ”
As for what she hopes readers will take away from “Miriam’s Well,” Mirriam-Goldberg said, “I hope readers find some of the magic that comes from both being true to yourself and making community wherever you go.” She added that there is a parallel between the individual of Miriam wandering her own personal desert and what’s happening outside the book, where an entire country is searching for its soul.
Besides fiction, Mirriam-Goldberg writes poetry and collaborates with Kelley Hunt, a Kansas City-based musician, as a songwriter. “I just love writing, so I keep writing what I write.”
This creative momentum has produced more than 20 books. Mirriam-Goldberg said she is usually working on several book projects at once. “You turn on the faucet and see what comes out.” Currently, she’s working on a collection of essays that has been in the works for about two decades, as well as a book of poetry about time and how time moves.
‘Miriam’s Well’ events
To discover more about “Miriam’s Well,” or author Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, visit these upcoming events:
April 28: Lawrence, Kansas — Writing the Tree of Life: Midrash & Personal Mythology to Revision our Lives: 4-6 p.m., Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., Lawrence, KS. Free and open to the public, but tickets required. Contact Kristin Soper at 785-843-3833 ext. 122 or for tickets.
April 28: Lawrence, Kansas — “Miriam’s Well” Book Launch & Havdalah Service: 7:30 p.m., Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation, 917 Highland Ave., Lawrence, KS. The evening includes a reading from “Miriam’s Well,” short Havdalah service and oneg. Sponsored by the Lawrence Public Library, Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation, The Merc and The Raven Bookstore.
July 8: Prairie Village, Kansas — “Miriam’s Well” Reading at Café Ohev: 10 a.m. Congregation Ohev Sholom, 5711 W. 75th St., Prairie Village, KS. Join the author for brunch and a reading from “Miriam’s Well” at the congregation’s Café Ohev. You can either come at 10:30 for the reading, or enjoy a full breakfast at 10 a.m. for $7. The reading will be followed by time for questions, answers and discussion, as well as a book-signing.