A tender, enlightening debut that, urban setting aside, reads like a comedy of provincial manners.
A gentle evocation of love and faith in Jerusalem’s Orthodox community.
There are peevish singles in the “City of Peace,” a small crowd of Orthodox thirty- and forty-somethings, smart and independent to a fault, whose recreational hours are made up of long-drawn-out flirtations with the Torah. It’s enough to drive a matchmaker up the Weeping Wall. Especially Tsippi, who emerged from Treblinka with an extraordinary motive for making matches (“Every couple she brought together—saliva in Hitler’s stupefied face”). Her chief frustration is Beth, a never-been-kissed American who walks away from a string of favorable dates with Akiva, a sensitive house-painter plagued by violent twitches and spasms. King then seems, like a Jewish Jane Austen, to insinuate into the tale a rakish rival for Beth’s halfhearted affection. But Beth and Binyamin don’t hit it off; the latter, a cynical artist who adds Jewish symbols to his canvases in order to increase sales, finds in every potential mate an intolerable aesthetic flaw. The hyper-virginal and hyper-intellectual Beth becomes a Bridget Jones in reverse, obsessing over her nability to desire a man; she breaks down, buys sexy tangerine panties, makes a play for Akiva. Meanwhile, Tsippi and fellow matchmaker Judy begin to find their own marriages wanting; each discovering, largely through renewed interest in Torah studies, a fervent rekindling of the hearth. Much of the story’s strength rises from King’s generous description of Jerusalem, from fig and acacia trees to synagogues and tomb factories. Especially of interest are the numerous passages involving the characters’ performance of Orthodox rituals and their deep pokings-about into theology. Their religious principles keep the tale on the straight and narrow path of 19th-century literature: there’s no sex here, though Akiva does caress Beth’s shoe with obvious yearning while sitting in the park.
A tender, enlightening debut that, urban setting aside, reads like a comedy of provincial manners.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-312-30915-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2003
In this modern-day allegory, Trott (Divorcing Daddy, 1992, etc.) infuses the popular notion of the wise man on the mountain with a keen intelligence and a surprisingly wry humor. Joe runs a hermitage (not a hermitage in the strictest sense, since fellow monks keep him company) atop a mountain in an unnamed country. During the summer months, thousands of hopefuls line the single-file path leading to his door for a chance to bend his ear. Each day during visiting hours, a small, nondescript man opens the door to the next pilgrim in line, asking, ``Yes?'' Invariably, the pilgrim, anxious after such a long wait, replies with a hasty ``I have come to see the holy man.'' The man then asks the pilgrim to follow him and takes off at breakneck speed through the house until he reaches a door—a door that turns out to be the exit leading to the single-file path down the other side of the mountain. When the visitor whines, ``But I have come to see the holy man,'' the monk replies, ``You have seen me.'' Most times, he adds, ``If you look on every one you meet as a holy person, you will be happy.'' Eventually, the initially stunned pilgrims find the jewel in the monk's words: If everyone deserves to be treated as holy, then they are holy in some way too. If this rings cheesy, it is...and it isn't. Because Trott surrounds the clichÇd nuggets of wisdom with sharp wit (the story of the famous man who, in his attempt to bypass the line by stealing the robes of a monk in town for supplies, winds up beating up the holy man himself) and weighty experiences (the drunkard who, while waiting in line for advice, makes the nine-mile journey back into town for more booze so often that he becomes fit enough, physically and mentally, to give up alcohol). Endlessly entertaining and gently profound. (Book-of-the-Month Club/Quality Paperback Book Club selections)
Pub Date: March 22, 1995
ISBN: 1-57322-002-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1995
A second tragedy-laden southern coming-of-age tale from Reynolds (Bitterroot Landing, 1995)—this one, set in a strict and punitive religious community, with a good, gothic allure despite its lamentably plodding prose. Ninah Huff is 14 when she really begins to chafe at the confines of her small world. Her grandpa Herman, founder of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind, keeps harsh control over their small South Carolina community, which is populated mostly by Ninah's extended family. Those who stray from the righteous path know to expect treatment that can range from whippings with a leather strap to sleeping overnight in a newly dug grave. And Grandpa Herman is always ready with Scripture to justify any of these punishments. Ninah, meanwhile, finds herself dreaming more and more about forbidden things, especially her strong physical attraction to James, one of the few boys around who's not her blood kin. When she winds up pregnant, it sparks tragedy within her family and shock waves throughout the community. But Ninah insists that she's not guilty of the sin of fornication, that what she and James did together was a form of pure prayer. And, sure enough, when baby Canaan is born, he appears to bear a sign from God—his hands are joined at the palms like someone perpetually praying. Grandpa Herman proclaims him the New Messiah, and he's taken away from Ninah to be raised by others. This time out, Reynolds burdens her story with some unworkable metaphors—a rug that grins?—and much awkward dialogue, but, in all, she creates a strongly compelling tension between family feeling and religious fervor. The fate of Ninah and her son is uncertain until the small epiphany (or, really, anti-epiphany) at book's end—a moment that seems just right. Fire and brimstone that goes tepid at times but is really chilling overall. (Literary Guild alternate selection; author tour)
Pub Date: Jan. 3, 1996
ISBN: 0-399-14112-X
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
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