Delightful: rich in its characters, vivid in its setting, and genuinely intriguing overall.
A rich historical from Sherwood (Green, 1995; Vindication, 1993) about 17th-century Prague’s Rabbi Loew, his Golem, some English alchemists, and an obsessed Habsburg emperor.
Many know the story of Rabbi Loew, the saintly, erudite tzaddik (holy man) who made a giant out of mud and breathed life into him. Loew is indeed one of Sherwood’s characters here, but the real protagonist is Rochel, a Jewish seamstress who marries the kindly but dull cobbler Zev because, since she’s of illegitimate birth, no one else will have her. Rochel is one of the best tailors in Europe, and her skill in making clothes for the gentry and courtiers of Hradcany Castle brings her to the attention of Emperor Rudolph II. A vain hypochondriac, Rudolph has heard about two shady English alchemists (John Dee and Edward Kelly) whom he believes have discovered the elixir of immortality, so he brings them to Prague and orders them to produce it for him. Charlatans or not, Kelly and Dee are in a no-win situation: If they fail to create the elixir, Rudolph will have them executed for fraud—but if they succeed, he will put them to death to keep them from revealing the secret to others. Meanwhile, civil unrest is brought about by the rise of Protestantism and threats of Ottoman invasion, giving rise to new resentment against the Jews. So Rabbi Loew creates his Golem, named Yossel, to defend the inhabitants of the Judenstadt ghetto. Naturally, word of Yossel’s exploits (he saves Rochel from drowning, for a start) reaches the emperor, who tries to bring the rabbi into his immortality project. Loew knows it’s always best to keep a good distance from the throne, but he also knows how to bargain—his knowledge in exchange for protection of the Jews. A deal with the devil? Read and see.
Delightful: rich in its characters, vivid in its setting, and genuinely intriguing overall.Pub Date: July 8, 2002
ISBN: 0-393-02138-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.
Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.
Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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