NPR

How 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find Closure

Alexandra Silber's father died when she was just 18 — the same age as Fiddler's Hodel when she leaves her dad at a train station. Silber's new novel, After Anatevka, tells the rest of Hodel's story.
<em>After Anatevka: A Novel Inspired by "Fiddler on the Roof"</em>, by Alexandra Silber.

If you know any musicals at all, then you probably know the beloved Fiddler on the Roof. It tells the story of the dairy man Tevye and his family, and it's set in the town of Anatevka in czarist Russia.

In the musical, and second eldest daughter, Hodel, makes the bold decision to leave her family and everything she knows to find her fiancé, who has been sent to a labor camp in Siberia. As she boards the train, Hodel says to her father, "God alone knows when we shall see each other again."

That's how Hodel's story ended — until now. Actress and author called . Silber played Hodel in a West End production of , and she also played Hodel's sister Tzeitel on Broadway. She says, "My journey with began as a sophomore in high school when I gave the world my Golde, who was the mother of the family. So I've always, always loved this story."

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