If I Told You Once : A Novel

In her novel about mothers, daugthers, and love, Judy Budnitz gives the traditional folktale an electrifying twist as she follows four generations of women from an Eastern European village to the tenements of an American city.
Illana, eager to escape her formidable mother's all-consuming love, embarks on an epic journey to the New World and is met along the way by evil, magic, and good fortune. The daughter, granddaugther, and great-granddaughter who follow in her footsteps share her special powers of observation, and, often, destruction.