The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN EDITOR OF BOOKPLEASURES.COM""

Even if you don’t believe in “bube meishes,” (Yiddish for grandmother tales), or psychics and mediums, you can’t help enjoying Rochelle Jewel Shapiro’s first delightful novel Miriam the Medium.

Shapiro narrates a story of a phone psychic, Miriam Kaminsky, who inherited the gift of being able to communicate with the dead and to foretell the future from her Russian born “bubie” (Yiddish for grandmother). Unfortunately, this gift causes her much grief, as both her own mother and daughter were ashamed to divulge to anyone what unusual powers she possessed. In fact, her mother warned her not to let any of her neighbors in on her secret, when she had moved to Great Neck, New York. Her daughter dared not mention her mother’s skills to any of her school friends for fear of being ridiculed.

When her husband’s pharmacy was about to go under, Miriam decides to come to his rescue by engaging the services of an agent. Her plan was to more effectively market herself and thus earn more money. The agent convinces Miriam to appear on a television show that, unfortunately, ends in her being humiliated. However, all is not lost and there are sparks of triumph, as Miriam succeeds in proving her worth to her immediate family, when she tracks down her daughter and boyfriend lost in the woods in the middle of nowhere.

You have to wonder if the author’s narrative is based on some of her own true to life experiences, as she is likewise a phone psychic who lives in Great Neck, New York?

Although narrated in a simple, accessible style, the story is replete with well- developed character descriptions and vivid conversations of not only of persons living but also the spirits of the deceased.

The book from beginning to end seldom slows and our principal character, Miriam, engages readers from the first page, both as a narrator and a mysterious character. The dialogue with its sprinkling of colorful Yiddish expressions is hilarious, and the story is sure to delight even those who would say it is a bunch of malarkey, or as my late parents would utter- “bubie meishes.” However, you have to admit the book would undoubtedly supply readers with some good cocktail conversation pertaining to the legitimacy of psychics and mediums. After all, is it not true, as fans of the paranormal enjoy pointing out, that some of our well- known politicians, celebrities, and others defer to the opinions of these “gifted” individuals? Enjoy!