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A review by lizzie_purplephoenix
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
5.0
*4.5 stars.
This was a wonderful book. The author clearly put a LOT of work into the historical detail in the book, and the characters were well developed. The (3rd person) prose is intimately close to the POV characters, sometimes a little claustrophobic with a slightly melodramatic feel to it, but that did add to the experience. The description of place - sights, sounds, smells, feelings - was pretty awesome too. I loved Ester and Helen, not so much Aaron, but that was intentional and there's no denying he had an arc. I loved the exploration about religion and belief, and the peek into what life was like in the 1660s in England, and learning some Jewish history that until now I knew literally nothing about. I also found the intriguing mystery of the historical pages irresistible.
There are a few niggles I have, such as the odd comment about what Americans and the English are stereotypically like, that confused me. I think most were from Aaron's POV (the American's), about the English, which kinda made sense maybe (one sees "British" stereotypes - and comments about the "British" - in American TV shows, movies, on YouTube, after all), but not all were from Aaron. It made it feel very much written by an American (I'm English). I also thought that
I've seen other reviewers mention the issue with the white cotton gloves. I too had heard they should not be used for handling old papers, so I googled, and I think it's possible that in 2001 the cotton gloves were still widely in use (especially when you consider that) - I found this article from the National Archives, published in 2013: The gloves are off
There is so much more to say about the merits of this book, but to conclude, this was an awesome read.
This was a wonderful book. The author clearly put a LOT of work into the historical detail in the book, and the characters were well developed. The (3rd person) prose is intimately close to the POV characters, sometimes a little claustrophobic with a slightly melodramatic feel to it, but that did add to the experience. The description of place - sights, sounds, smells, feelings - was pretty awesome too. I loved Ester and Helen, not so much Aaron, but that was intentional and there's no denying he had an arc. I loved the exploration about religion and belief, and the peek into what life was like in the 1660s in England, and learning some Jewish history that until now I knew literally nothing about. I also found the intriguing mystery of the historical pages irresistible.
There are a few niggles I have, such as the odd comment about what Americans and the English are stereotypically like, that confused me. I think most were from Aaron's POV (the American's), about the English, which kinda made sense maybe (one sees "British" stereotypes - and comments about the "British" - in American TV shows, movies, on YouTube, after all), but not all were from Aaron. It made it feel very much written by an American (I'm English). I also thought that
Spoiler
the fact there were two Patricias at the library turned all archivists/librarians etc into a stereotype, amusing though it was. Not helped by the awful way Aaron thought about the other librarian Anne, about whom I was hoping we'd find out more and he'd realise his arrogant ass was wrong about her! That never happened, which was a real shame.I've seen other reviewers mention the issue with the white cotton gloves. I too had heard they should not be used for handling old papers, so I googled, and I think it's possible that in 2001 the cotton gloves were still widely in use (especially when you consider that
Spoiler
Helen, an older woman, is a stickler about them, and there's a passage at one point which describes the problem the gloves gave her, along with her shaky hands, and her worry about damaging the papers, which may be hinting at the fact that these days they're not used any moreThere is so much more to say about the merits of this book, but to conclude, this was an awesome read.