A review by piyali
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

5.0

Although I finished reading this book late last night, I am still living in the world of Ester Velásquez in 17th Century London. It is one of those books which linger in the reader's minds even after the last page is read. Historian Helen Watt is called by his former student to survey some letters that were found in their house which belonged to a prominent Jewish family in mid sixteenth century. Through the letters Helen and his helper, a post grad student Aaron Levy discover the life and intellect of a remarkable Jewish woman who moved to London with her brother after being orphaned in Amsterdam, to live under the care of Rabbi HaCoen Mendes. The book keeps the readers enthralled with the cinematic description of 17th century, plague ridden London, the hatred that the citizens possessed against Jews and it also takes us into the brilliant mind of a fascinating woman who was dissatisfied with the lot she was given in life due to her gender and was not afraid to break, or at least, attempt to break the glass ceiling to fulfill her intellectual thirst. Each character is remarkable, their story is completely captivating and each page of this 500 plus book is worthy of our attention. It was truly a pleasure.