In today’s polarized world, people are often talked about as “them” or “those people,” pejorative terms to say the least. In “One of Them,” author Kitty Zeldis takes that phrase, those words, and exposes the microaggressions, the ignorance, the prejudice behind them. There are two main characters whom we meet as they both attend Vassar College. While both are Jewish and from wealthy families, their approach to life is very different.

Anne Bishop becomes part of a group of privileged WASP girls, taking tea with them and dishing tea, gossiping, about fashion, other students, and life. Anne’s mother died when she was a baby, and she and her father are very close. He changed his name to Bishop when the law firm he wanted to join didn’t show an interest in him and he thought a non-Jewish last name might help his chances. His first name changed from Jacob to Jay. Anne’s first name is Miriam, but she decides to go by her middle name after an unsettling event with her best friend during high school.

Delia Goldhush, on the other hand, escaped Nazi Germany after the occupation of Paris with her father, who owned an art gallery. Her mother, an artist, disappeared right before they were to leave, so they had to go without her on the last boat leaving France. Her parents were not good parents, more dedicated and consumed by their social network, art, the gallery, than they were with loving their daughter. Delia’s sophisticated style, her confidence, her obvious intelligence draws Anne to her. They become almost-friends. Until Anne participates in an event that drives a wedge into their budding friendship.

Zeldis’s narrative is fluid and easy to read. The descriptions and the reflections combined with just the right amount of dialogue make this a quick read. After all, we like both women—both of who are perfectly imperfect—and we want to know how they proceed in their journey. Both Anne and Delia are searching for something. Delia yearns for the mother she never really had, and thinks that if she can find the boxes of sculpture her mother left behind in Paris, she will finally be happy. Anne’s father died when she was in high school, so she’s on her own. But she was irrevocably changed by her short-lived relationship with Delia. She has feelings of shame for her part in what happened, and she misses the friendship that might have been.

The story takes us from Poughkeepsie, NY, to Paris and even to the brand new state of Israel. Zeldis shares the unfortunate truth that many of the microaggressions that Jewish people endured in the 40s is still what is faced today. And the tensions between the Jewish settlers and the Arabs in what was Palestine and was just made the state of Israel? Things are just as dire today as they were then. Anne’s guide in Israel was Ahmed, and he told her that his family had lived there for three or four generations. He said that while many Jews had lived in Palestine, after the British came in to conquer Syria, there were riots and most left. But “now they’re back again. Grabbing the land. Trying to force us out.” And the Arabs attack the Jews who then retaliate in what becomes a never-ending cycle. Sound familiar?

Later the same guide tells Anne that “You Americans are so soft. Nothing bad has happened to y ou in a long time. But bad things have been happening to us longer than you’ve been alive.” And when she replies that bad things can happen to everyone, he says that bad things happen to some people “more than others.” And when she is talking about the violence she witnessed at the kibbutz she visited, someone comments that “Nothing is going to get settled for a long time.” Such irony. Who could have imagined that the anger, the distrust, the hatred would continue for generations.

This novel is not a happy-ever-after story. It’s an incisive look at the post WWII era, when antisemitism was rampant, restrictions were in place in private country clubs, in subdivisions, and in the workplace. “Passing” was something some did to make life easier, and this is a insightful reveal of what that entails and how that might play out. It would be wonderful to say that the world has changed, that religion no longer indicates the value of a person nor does the color of one’s skin. But in reality, what Zeldis has done is to cause the reader to see the unfortunate truth that all too little has improved for the better. The conflict in the Middle East is as bad as it ever was, and antisemitism and prejudice against others from other cultures is rampant in the US.

But none of that takes away from the beauty of Anne and Delia’s story. It’s inspiring and a testament to the importance of forgiveness. This novel also points out the importance of being true to one’s self. Multifaceted main characters, an intriguing plot, and beautiful writing all make this a novel not to miss.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.