Not Our Kind is a novel set in the late 1940s in New York City. Young Eleanor Markowitz was in between jobs when the cab she literally bumped into Patricia Bellamy (their cabs crashed). Eleanor had left her teaching job and was running late for an interview when the accident happened. As fate would have it, Patricia had a 13-year old daughter, Margaux, who was recovering from polio and had just lost her tutor. Margaux formed an instant bond with Eleanor. Despite her misgivings, wealthy and WASPy Patricia decided to hire Eleanor, provided her friends don’t learn that Eleanor is Jewish.
The book started out with a bang, but lost steam as I continued reading. I thought it was too cliche. I got a feel for Eleanor and Margaux, but the other characters were too flat. Eleanor met and was attracted to Tom, Patricia’s brother. He was a rich playboy who had seduced at least one of Patricia’s friends in the past. He still had a bohemian-life style. What did Eleanor see in Tom? The anti-Semitism was not really a main theme, other than making a point that Eleanor had to change her name from Moskowitz to Moss to get a job. Neither she nor her mother, a hat maker, were especially observant. Eleanor had, however, observed some of the Jewish rituals when her father was alive. She had no problems eating shellfish and lobster in the beginning of the book, but later the point was made when treyfe was served at a party. It was a fast and easy read, but not memorable.
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