Annie's Portion

Annie's Portion is a saga, spanning a century, depicting one family's struggles to succeed and become an integral part of a new land. It is uniquely American in relating a story of three Jewish women, each representing her own generation, each finding her own way towards fulfullment. Sarah Tregorvich, born in an eastern European village, is separated by illness from her parents when they make the pilgrimage to America in the early 1900's. When reunited with her family at the age of eight, she is an outsider in an alien world. But by the mid-1920's she has become a liberated woman with a gainful profession. She escapes the confines of a crowded New York tenement when she marries Bradley Kaufman, a handsome, charming idler and womanizer. When her daughter Annie is born she leaves Brad and strikes out on her own. Her failures, disappointments and eventual success are a testement to her strength of character and set an example for the next generation. Annie, too grows up without a family. Sarah's on-again-off-again relationship with Brad leaves her confused and disappointed. She loves her father but when her sister Hanah is born Brad deserts his family and at the age of ten Annie must make a fateful decision. She is smart and independent- an achiever who can't stand losing. But she repeats her mother's mistake and marries a loser. Seventeen years and four children later, Annie makes the break. Although she achieves success she endures periods of desperation, self-exploration and experimentation- engaging in risky behavior and casual affairs. In Hawaii she attains professional acclaim and finacial security but fate holds another surprise for her and at the age of fifty she marries Karol Longbranch and moves to Colorado to become the wife of a rancher. Sam, Annie's only daughter, has just begun her first year at CSU in Colorado when she learns of her mother's impulsive marriage to a cowboy. At first upset and jealous she comes to love Branch as a father and has a relationship with his son Thad, whom she later marries. She follows a career in journalism, which eventually leads to an interest in writing stories about wild mustangs. Sam sparks a passion in her mother who joins Sam in a rescue effort. A trip to a mustang refuge and temporary hiring of two ex-prisoners who worked there result in consequences that would forever change the lives of all three women.