The Magician of Lublin (Isaac Bashevis Singer: Classic Editions)

Set in nineteenth-century Poland this novel tells the story of Yasha - a sword swallower fire eater acrobat and master of escape - famous for Houdini-like tricks. A free thinker with an observant Jewish wife at home and a woman in every town his exploits catch up with him and he is tempted to make one final escape - from his marriage his homeland and his fathers religious heritage. But his plans unravel and he instead seeks to lock himself up in a place that even he wont be able to escape - and to spend the rest of his days doing penitence.