The assassination of Czar Alexander in 1881 unleashed a sequence of consequences which impelled, in the next two decades, the birth of Zionism and the proliferation of transatlantic migrations. Following a family of Russian Jews scattered by persecution and reunited by chance at the Mansion House in London where a humanitarian mission is launched with mixed motives. Jewish refugees attempt to cope with the asphyxiating realities of domestic and spiritual life in the pestilential Austro-Hungarian bolthole which is Brody. A pair of young lovers whose lives entwined with the quixotic misadventures of a husband and wife team with messianic inclinations and royal connections. A tale of survival despite best laid plans, That Business at Brody is a historical novel told by a variety of narrators with humor and humanity and pulls focus on transient life with contemporary resonance. AUTHOR: Jack Winter was born in Moose Jaw, educated in Montreal and Toronto, and taught modern theatre and creative writing at several Canadian and British universities including York University (Toronto) and University of Bristol (UK). For twelve years he was the resident playwright and dramaturge at Toronto Workshop Productions. His most recent books are The Tallis Bag (Oberon Press, 2012); My TWP Plays: A Collection Including ?Ten Lost Years? (Talonbooks, 2013), and Tales of the Emperor (Talonbooks, 2015). Recognition for his work includes the Telegram Theatre Award for the Best New Canadian Play (Before Compiègne), the Chalmers Award for the Outstanding Canadian Play (Ten Lost Years), the Ontario Arts Council Senior Writer's Award, the Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship, the Canadian Film Award for the Best Documentary Film (Selling Out), an Academy Award nomination for the Best Short Subject (Selling Out), the C. Day-Lewis Fellowship of the Greater London Arts Association, and the Arts Council of Great Britain Creative Writing Fellowship (twice).
