Amalgam HC an Immigrant His Labor Union and His American Family In Brooklyn (MR)

(W/A/CA) Frances Jetter In a uniquely told immigrant story, visual artist Frances Jetter connects her own life to her ancestors? and their interweaving ties to the 20th century labor movement. The narrative thread unspools with Abram, a Polish Jew who immigrates to America for economic opportunity and ? much like his namesake ? takes on a new name, ?Abe?. He is a passionate arbitrator and advocate in his union but an unyielding patriarchal tyrant at home. Throughout, readers uncover the convictions and contradictions that make up the tapestry of his life and so many others. Amalgam?is populated by impressionistic figures, rendered with piercing faces staring down the reader, as if out of an old photograph. Some pages are mini epics depicting the struggle of workers, others are haunting vignettes of abandoned dolls and forgotten friends. It?s also a love letter to Jetter?s mother, Rose, who hovers in the artist?s mind like a ghost ? forever impressed upon the stairs, at once ephemeral and pervasive, like Rose?s lost paper doll. One?s life is not only one?s own, but hinges on every ot