The novel “The Assistant” is the second novel written by Bernard Malamud. The story is set in the working class neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York.

The story revolves around the three main characters and the relationship between them first and second generation Americans in the early 1950s.

The three major characters are and aging Jewish refugee from Tsarist Russia, a young Italian American, and a grocer’s daughter.

The Jewish refugee owns a failing small grocery store. The Young Italian American works there as the grocer’s assistant. The grocer has a daughter who falls in love with her father’s assistant. Though there are parental objections and misgivings of her own, she becomes romantically involved with the young American Italian assistant of her father.

“The Assistant” was made into a movie in 1997, and it proved to be a highly successful film. The story was highly admired by the audiences.