I love the title, Kaplan’s Plot. Just those two words hold quite a lot about Jason Diamond’s novel.
I read somewhere that the name “Kaplan” is a common name like the name “Smith.” That makes me think that this is a novel about an everyman. I like that idea—that characterization—in a novel. And then, the word “plot” is pretty loaded here, too. It has to do with that literary element of this compelling novel, but also with the cemetery that the character of Elijah becomes obsessed with.
His family owns the cemetery. He learns that his great uncle Solomon Kaplan is buried there—in a plot.
He becomes curious about this long gone relative he never knew, and he begins to excavate a story that becomes just as intriguing to the rest of us.
Elijah is also trying to figure out the mystery that is his mother, Eve. Their relationship has been fraught for a long while. But now she is dying of cancer, and he must make the most of his time with her.
As she starts to share the story of the cemetery and Solomon and other family members, the old resentments fall away–there is a path they are making to reach each other.
His discoveries bring him knowledge of his maternal grandfather, Yitz. Because of his checkered and questionable past as a gangster, Eve has always been ashamed of him and never talked about him to her son. But the secrets are unraveling. These families across generations must find a reckoning with what has gone on before—and walk together toward acceptance of exactly who they are.
Learn more about the author here.
Guest: Jason Diamond is the author of the novel, Kaplan's Plot.
