"We weren't religious per se. The most frequent mention of God in our house was my mother yelling 'Goddammit!'"Elisa Bernick grew up "different" (i.e., Jewish) in the white, Christian suburb of New Hope, Minnesota during the 1960s and early 1970s. At the center of her world was her mother, Arlene, who was a foul-mouthed, red-headed, suburban Samson who ultimately shook the walls of their family until it collapsed. Poignant and provocative, Departure Stories peers through the broade...

"We weren't religious per se. The most frequent mention of God in our house was my mother yelling 'Goddammit!'"Part memoir, part social history, in Departure Stories: Betty Crocker Made Matzoh Balls (and other lies), Elisa Bernick uses her family’s experiences to explore Minnesota’s legacy of antisemitism and the struggle for women’s rights during the 1960s and early 1970s. She tells both heartbreaking and hilarious stories about being the only Jews in the suburb of New Ho...