Tales of the Prague Ghetto

The three stories in this collection, which first appeared in the press in the 1840s and were posthumously published as a collection at the end of the century, offer a Romantic and folkloric vision of Jewish culture in Prague. The first story, “Genenda”, displays Kapper’s operatic eye for detail and drama with its account of a dutiful rabbi’s daughter being swept away by a dashing young man, a Christian nobleman disguised as a Jew, a deceit that ends in tragedy. “The Curious Guest” is an intricate tale of a quest for wisdom and power that inevitably leads to the undoing of the arrogant protagonist. The final story, “Glowing Coals”, is a supernatural tale of romantic desire and revenge, displaying Kapper’s skill at deploying the tropes of folklore for dramatic literary effect. The collection not only provides a colorful snapshot of nineteenth-century Czech-Jewish culture but also resonates with universal human themes that transcend a single national experience.