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A review by heatherdbooks
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
5.0
The Weight of Ink is a enjoyable densely packed novel with lots of moving parts. It's foremost a historical novel, exploring late 17th century life in London, with a focus on Jewish history (the Inquisition in Portugal, Jewish culture in Amsterdam, the emergence of Jewish culture in London). The plague of 1665 figures prominently.
It's also a mystery, with an interwoven story of modern day historians trying to piece together the life a female scribe for a rabbi in London from a newly found trove of documents.
The novel has great, unpredictable, imperfect characters. Ester the scribe is a intellectually strong and uncompromising. Helen the historian is trying to make sense of her own life as it ends. Aaron, the graduate student has a lot to learn. Even the secondary characters are interesting.
The philosophical questions and discussions that Ester poses will have you looking to wikipedia.
As a catalyst, the novel owes Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" a nod - because at is heart is the question of what happens to a female who wants intellectual not household pursuits. But unlike Shakespeare's sister, Ester manages to pull it off.
It's also a mystery, with an interwoven story of modern day historians trying to piece together the life a female scribe for a rabbi in London from a newly found trove of documents.
The novel has great, unpredictable, imperfect characters. Ester the scribe is a intellectually strong and uncompromising. Helen the historian is trying to make sense of her own life as it ends. Aaron, the graduate student has a lot to learn. Even the secondary characters are interesting.
The philosophical questions and discussions that Ester poses will have you looking to wikipedia.
As a catalyst, the novel owes Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" a nod - because at is heart is the question of what happens to a female who wants intellectual not household pursuits. But unlike Shakespeare's sister, Ester manages to pull it off.