• Swimming to Jerusalem

    A new novel by Seth Bornstein is now available on Amazon.

    Over 1,300 copies sold! 90% of the reviews are 4 or 5 star!

     “It’s a great novel of New York…and a tender look at the way the progression of time makes immigrants of us all. A bighearted novel about the past’s refusal to recede” – Read the full Kirkus review here.

    Readers have asked me, “What would Bram think of what is happening now?
    Please read this essay:     https://swimmingtojerusalem.com/2023/12/04/october-7-2023/

Bram Goodman was the coolest, most confident and self-assured guy in New York City – or so he thought. A few years later he is anything but. The story opens on the French Riviera where he is finishing up a summer gig as a swimming instructor. It is six-thirty in the morning and his roommate is singing off key to the Clash. Pulling the sheet over his head he ponders what comes next.

Thirty-two years later the “next” has happened. Despite any grand plan, Bram’s life took its course. He met Liz – who did have a grand plan – and he goes along for the ride. Alternating between past and present, Swimming to Jerusalem is the story of that journey. This includes the family he never imagined, a career he fell into, and memories that are like rogue waves, strong and unexpected.

Everything can change in a heartbeat. But the past never does. We know that memory should be a reference, not a residence – though sometimes that just isn’t possible.