In this bilingual Yiddish/English edition, Miamians Azaroff (Florence Melton School of Jewish Studies) and Schanfield (English, Barry College) translate and edit this story by Ayzik-Meir Dik (1814-1893), the earliest professional Yiddish writer. They provide personal and cultural context on this supporter of the Jewish Enlightenment. Despite the fact that Dik favored Hebrew over Yiddish, he wrote his best-selling works in the latter to reach a broad Jewish audience. In this "bourgeois romance" intended to assist in the cultural awakening of Lithuanian Jewry, his themes include the rights of women to marry for love and not be compelled to be breadwinners (like Brod's abandoned wife), the ethical pursuit of wealth as honorable, and travel for expanding horizons. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)