The Weight of ink

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Kadish, Rachel, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kadish, Rachel
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Kadish, Rachel	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kadish, Rachel	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kadish, Rachel	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"An intellectual and emotional jigsaw puzzle of a novel for readers of A.S. Byatt's Possession and Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book. Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. As the novel opens, Helen has been summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents newly discovered in his home during a renovation. Enlisting the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and in a race with another fast-moving team of historians, Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents' scribe, the elusive "Aleph." Electrifying and ambitious, sweeping in scope and intimate in tone, The Weight of Ink is a sophisticated work of historical fiction about women separated by centuries, and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind"-- Provided by publisher.
Ester Velasquez is an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city. Helen Watt is an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents newly discovered in his home during a renovation, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming. In a race with another fast-moving team of historians, Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents' scribe, the elusive "Aleph."

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Fascinating submitted by cldaniels on June 19, 2020, 3:03pm I was facinated with the perpective of Ester, one of the 2 main characters of this book. As a female scribe for an ailing rabbi, in a time when most women were forbidden from reading and writing, she hides her identity to interact with philosopers of the time. Also interesting, much of her narrative takes place during the plague, and the descriptions of being quarrantined, and disparities of how the poor vs wealthy can "escape" it, are relatable during this COVID 19 pandemic.

Glad I read it, and recommend it submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 18, 2021, 9:22pm This was quite a tome. The story (stories, really, as there are two that are intertwined) were compelling. I got a little disinterested with the historical romance in the middle, and had to work to make myself pick the book up at that point, but I do understand why those relationships and events were relevant to the plot. I thought the author did an excellent job turning Jewish and English history and culture into something that I, as a non-Jew and non-historian would find both interesting and comprehensible for 600 pages. The twining of the two timelines was well done, and no matter which one I was reading, I was often glad to be in it, and curious about what I would find when I went back to the other. Overall, not a book I would typically have picked up off the shelf (this was a book club pick), but I’m glad I read it and recommend it.