The girls in the velvet frame - Adle Geras

Five sisters in Jerusalem, 1913, try to find their lost brother in New York with the help of a photograph.

Jerusalem, 1913. The long, hot summer drags on for the Bernstein sisters - Rifka, Chava, Naomi, Dvora and Shoshanna. Their brother Isaac has been in New York for almost a year, and still the family has heard nothing from him. So when their frivolous aunt Mimi suggests that the girls have a photograph taken for their mother's birthday, they come up with a plan. Can they use the photograph to find Isaac? Will the family ever be reunited?

Adele Geras was born in Jerusalem on March 15th, 1944. Her father was in the Colonial Office, so she moved around all over the place while she was very young: Nigeria, North Borneo, the Gambia. She attended boarding-school in England (Roedean) from the age of 11. After Roedean she graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford. She has worked as an actress and as a French teacher.

"This warm book with its lively characters is not only a delicious story, it is also a tour de force"
Children's Books of the Year 1978

"Full of warmth and affection. the characterization is deft, sharp and realistic"
The Horn Book Magazine