"When I remember Russia, I ache with longing for the village of my birth, where the beloved grandparents magically produced candy in a handshake and told stories of long ago when God spoke to humans and enchantments filled the world." So begins Amy Wachspress's historical novel, spanning 70 years and five continents, Memories from Cherry Harvest.

Two Jewish sisters, born in Russia shortly before the Communist Revolution, are forced to flee the pogroms and persecution and travel with their parents to British-occupied Palestine. The girls' parents befriend a widower with two children...