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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
"The Weight of Ink" follows two storylines. In the 1660s, Ester is a young, extremely intelligent woman whose family fled the Inquisition in Portugal and ended up in Amsterdam. After her parents are killed in a fire accidentally caused by her brother, she goes to London as the servant of a blind rabbi. Because of her language and writing skills, she soon ends up in the very unique position of his scribe. But her intelligence and the hardships she has suffered lead her to seek wisdom from outside Jewish learning...
The other storyline follows a historian, Helen Watt, and a graduate student in history named Aaron Levy (A. Levy!!!!), who have discovered a cache of old documents in an old house in London. As they read through the documents, they quickly realize that the scribe was a woman - which was virtually unknown for the period. But other historians are interested in the documents too...
I found "The Weight of Ink" a bit slow at first - I think Kadish could have spent less time on the discovery of the documents - but after the first quarter of the book, the story really gets going and draws you in. Watt, Levy, and Ester are all well developed and interesting characters. They have believable flaws and make believable mistakes. I found Ester's storyline especially riveting. As a historian, I really enjoyed the academic catfight over reading and publishing an article about the documents!
"The Weight of Ink" is an excellent book. Kadish writes beautifully, and her love of history comes through in the book. She weaves the two stories together in a suspenseful and thoughtful manner, and each story builds off the other. Ester's story has an unexpected conclusion, and I appreciated how Helen and Aaron helped each other grow throughout the book.
Kadish has clearly done her homework, and the book includes interesting connections to the philosophes of the 17th century, Shakespeare, and the plague and Great Fire of London. But the story remains character driven, and add to the overall story without overwhelming it.
My minor quibbles, besides the slow beginning: some of the secondary characters, like Rivka and Rabbi HaCoen Mendes, are well developed. I really enjoyed the quiet support Library Patricia gave to Helen Watt when she was working on the documents and when she was ill, showing that even small actions and care can demonstrate friendship and compassion.
But others, like Mary and her family, felt a bit superficial and underdeveloped. For example, I never understood why Mary's mother refused to leave London - was it because she loved her husband? Everything we heard about him made him seem like a cruel person. I liked the character of Alvaro, but he was a little too good to be true. I didn't love the romance between Marisa and Aaron. Maybe if Marisa came off as more than a "cool girl" stereotype, and appeared for more than a few pages, I would have appreciated that storyline more.
But overall, "The Weight of Ink" is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, especially Jewish history. Or anyone simply looking for a good work of historical fiction!
The other storyline follows a historian, Helen Watt, and a graduate student in history named Aaron Levy (A. Levy!!!!), who have discovered a cache of old documents in an old house in London. As they read through the documents, they quickly realize that the scribe was a woman - which was virtually unknown for the period. But other historians are interested in the documents too...
I found "The Weight of Ink" a bit slow at first - I think Kadish could have spent less time on the discovery of the documents - but after the first quarter of the book, the story really gets going and draws you in. Watt, Levy, and Ester are all well developed and interesting characters. They have believable flaws and make believable mistakes. I found Ester's storyline especially riveting. As a historian, I really enjoyed the academic catfight over reading and publishing an article about the documents!
"The Weight of Ink" is an excellent book. Kadish writes beautifully, and her love of history comes through in the book. She weaves the two stories together in a suspenseful and thoughtful manner, and each story builds off the other. Ester's story has an unexpected conclusion, and I appreciated how Helen and Aaron helped each other grow throughout the book.
Kadish has clearly done her homework, and the book includes interesting connections to the philosophes of the 17th century, Shakespeare, and the plague and Great Fire of London. But the story remains character driven, and add to the overall story without overwhelming it.
My minor quibbles, besides the slow beginning: some of the secondary characters, like Rivka and Rabbi HaCoen Mendes, are well developed. I really enjoyed the quiet support Library Patricia gave to Helen Watt when she was working on the documents and when she was ill, showing that even small actions and care can demonstrate friendship and compassion.
But others, like Mary and her family, felt a bit superficial and underdeveloped. For example, I never understood why Mary's mother refused to leave London - was it because she loved her husband? Everything we heard about him made him seem like a cruel person. I liked the character of Alvaro, but he was a little too good to be true. I didn't love the romance between Marisa and Aaron. Maybe if Marisa came off as more than a "cool girl" stereotype, and appeared for more than a few pages, I would have appreciated that storyline more.
But overall, "The Weight of Ink" is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, especially Jewish history. Or anyone simply looking for a good work of historical fiction!
Really enjoyed this book! It read a bit like a thriller, couldn't put it down and finished in two days:)
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Too long and complicated to give a concise summary of this book. If you like historical fiction, especially with a Jewish angle, this is the book for you. It's set in London and cuts back and forth between the turn of this millennium - when some old papers are discovered under a stair in a London suburb - and the year 1665 or so, when the papers were written.
I can see Dame Judi Dench playing the part of Helen Watt, the history professor on the brink of retirement. If anybody out there agrees, let me know.
I can see Dame Judi Dench playing the part of Helen Watt, the history professor on the brink of retirement. If anybody out there agrees, let me know.
I struggled to get through this book especially the first half. However, it is a beautifully written, rich story of strong , complex heroines if you love historical fiction and are not opposed to some philosophical musing, you will enjoy this.
It was a slow start and took a while for me to care about any characters, but then it picked up and became a "can't put it down" type of book.
Beautiful, brilliant, expertly researched... Bravo! The novel opens as Helen, a professor close to retirement, has been asked to come to one of her former student's home to examine some documents he finds under the steps of a house he and his wife wish to turn into a gallery. They want the documents removed as soon as possible so construction can begin and the timeline maintained. What Helen finds, takes her to her knees. The documents were treasures. The university allowed others in addition to Helen and her assistant to study them. Helen's health begins to suffer. I can reveal very little in this review as there are spoilers. Yet the back and forth between the current time period and the seventeenth century was smooth and utterly fascinating. This reader learned so much about Jewish history, which for me in my limited world view seemed to be at its absolute worst persecution during the Nazi regime. This novel brought crystal clear the persecution over centuries, as well as the limited role women were allowed to play...basically sit still and look pretty. I listened to this book on Audible. It was expertly narrated. I appreciate Rachel Kadish so much for her tender love and care of this extensive story. An absolute masterpiece.
I can't stop thinking about this book. It finds its way into my thoughts quite regularly. It was moving and powerful in a way I can't quite put into words. That's a simple review, but all I think I can say. This was a wonderful book.
Other people raved about this. Initially I really disliked it due to the writing style. It felt pretentious without being good; kind of an /r/iamverysmart feel to it. Then gradually I got engaged and couldn't put it down. I liked the historical storyline, but I never really picked up the thread of the present day one.
