Letters from Rifka

Karen Hesse’s young adult historical novel Letters from Rifka (1992) takes place between 1919 and 1920 and follows a young Jewish girl, Rifka, and her family as they escape persecution in Russia and begin a new life in America. The novel takes the form of letters Rifka writes, but cannot send, to her cousin in Russia, composed in the blank spaces of a volume of poetry by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The work thus combines the genres of the epistolary novel (or novel-in-letters) and diary. Letters from Rifka received critical acclaim and awards, including the 1993 National Jewish Book Award.

This guide references the 1992 Henry Holt and Company edition.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with a letter written by Rifka, a young Jewish girl, as she writes to her cousin, Tovah (and the plot will unfold through installments of letters). The first letter opens during the Russian Civil War of 1919. Rifka is from the town of Berdichev, Ukraine (at the time, part of Russia). She and her family face persecution from the Russian army. When word gets to her family that her brother Saul will be conscripted, the family decides to flee Russia and rejoin Rifka’s two oldest brothers who live in the United States.