The era of World War II is the frame of reference for Shafer. She explores the many-faceted relations within an idiosyncratic family in Brooklyn that traces its roots to Eastern Europe. No matter what your roots are, you will meet members of the family and other characters that will echo relatives or key people in your own life. With the principles growing older, Shafer conjures up a by-gone era in order to celebrate the power of memory and the passage of time. In the introduction to the book, Susanna Rich, poet and professor of English at Kean University in New Jersey wrote: "What Roth did for Newark, Joyce for Dublin, and Wolfe for London, Shafer does for Brooklyn, evoking a place and era for all time. Not only does she disprove Thomas Wolfe's claim that 'you can't go home again, ' with each reading of "Stories from Brooklyn" she takes us home--yes, to become a part of her family."