The Yiddish Policemen’s Union is an alternate history, noir murder mystery novel by Michael Chabon. The novel is set in present day, but is based on the premise that a temporary settlement for Jewish refugees was established during World War II in Sitka, Alaska, and the State of Israel collapsed soon after the novel’s alternate version of the Arab-Israeli War. The novel is sprinkled with many other differences from our own world, but they are described as background references, and the focus of the story is on the city of Sitka, a Yiddish speaking metropolis encroaching on Tlingit First Nation’s Lands.
The main character, Meyer Landsman, is a bit of a nebbish (click the more… tag below for a small Yiddish ‘dictionary’ that may be useful when reading the novel), but stumbles his way through a murder case that becomes a personal odyssey, as it ultimately connects with the death of his beloved sister.
The world that Chabon weaves — his alternate version of Sitka Alaska, with its mixed populace of Jewish and Tlingit First Nation peoples — is rich and believable.
Highly recommended.
db johnston
almost falling 