The Lampmaker: Synopsis

The story of The Lampmaker begins in the northwest corner of Czarist Russia, present-day Latvia, in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It concerns the adventures of two young Jewish boys, Rafael Yacobsohn and his younger brother Yossel.

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Their parents, Itzhak and Scheine, struggle to make a living and keep their boys safe against a background of anti-Jewish repression and violence. Their biggest fear is that one of the boys will be conscripted into the Russian army when they reach the age of twelve. If taken, they will serve a twenty-five year term — if they survive that long.

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Desperate to avoid finding their sons’ names on the conscription list, Itzhak and Scheine devise a plan to save them. But will it work?

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Rafael and Yossel's search for safety and freedom takes them first to Riga, and ultimately to the overcrowded squalor of Victorian London’s East End. To have any chance of survival they must rely on hard work, luck, and a healthy dose of chutzpah.

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Inspired by his grandfather's life story, author Ian Assersohn has brought the world of late nineteenth century Russian and English Jewry to life in a debut novel full of life, love, tragedy and humour.