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Ilyse B. (Howell, NJ)
Great Historical Fiction
The Weight of Ink was a wonderful historical novel. It was obvious that the author did a tremendous amount of research into her subject and she was able to present this information in a story that moved along at a brisk pace. There were two timelines in this story, and as is not always the case, both were interesting and held my attention. Would recommend this for anyone who likes to feel as if they have been transported to another time and place in their reading.
Therese X. (Calera, AL)
Pen and Paper Speaking Volumes
This novel begins as a modern story but its roots are deep in the seventeenth century. While the Eastons are renovating their newly-inherited four hundred year old house in London, an electrician uncovers handwritten documents under an old carved staircase. He assumes the writing is Arabic and fearing a far-fetched terrorist plot, he stops his work until it is officially resolved, not realizing the papers are dated three hundred years ago. Ian Easton knows the writing is Hebrew and assumes some are in "Spanish" (actually Portuguese) and contacts his former professor, Helen Watt, who specializes in historical documents, particularly the London Jewish community at the time of the Great Plague (1665-66).
What begins as a routine verification turns into a deep investigation of the Jewish migration via Amsterdam to London after The Inquisition in Portugal. One rabbi, HaCoen Mendes escaped although blinded and hired a scribe named Aleph to record his religious knowledge and experiences. But who was Aleph, the diligent and elegant scribe? Helen Watt is the perfect "investigator" to unravel the mysterious documents, but she needs the help of a younger graduate student, Nathan Levy, who is fluent in Hebrew and Portuguese of this time period and very adept on a computer. Although not Jewish herself, Helen has a history of her own which reaches as far as Masada.
The Weight of Ink portrays a history of the London Jewish community and their social times and traditions in an engrossing mystery tale and how the Jewish people struggled to carry their history with them to a new land. Highly recommended.
Linda_S2
The Weight of Ink
I think the title aptly fits the story. It refers to a sentence "My hands would never again turn the pages of a book, nor be stained with the sweet, grave weight of ink, a thing I have loved since first memory." This sentence gives readers just a hint of the depth of despair felt by one of the main characters, a Rabbi, blinded during the Inquisition. That love for reading is also shared by his female scribe Ester, who is given the rare opportunity to learn to read. Readers of historical fiction will devour this book. While I wouldn't call this a page turner, it is fascinating in its portrayal of the two time frames, especially that of London in the 1600's. As a lover of reading and books I could feel the excitement as ancient pages written in Hebrew were revealed when renovations began in a historic home in the outskirts of London. I think this would be a good book for book groups. My only complaint is that the book might have been shorter.
Erica M. (Chicago, IL)
The Weight of Ink is an intellectual challenge of the best sort
My initial response as I closed the book was "Wow! Just Wow!" Two stories are interwoven with each other - one from 2000 and one from 1659. A cache of papers is found and sold to a university for study. The stories are the analysis of those pages and the backstory to how they came to be. But to understand those studying the pages, we need the backstories of those doing the studying. The stories are those of the love of the written word and the ability to study, analyze, understand. Very often I feel that a book of over 500 pages is about 200 pages too long, but this one worked. The stories could hardly have been told in less and be as alive and vibrant as they were. The fact that the writing was compared to A.S. Byatt hooked me. It was a good comparison.
Nona F. (Evanston, IL)
A fascinating, compelling pair of stories
"Never underestimate the passion of a lonely mind": in a nutshell, the driving force for the 3 major characters in Rachel Kadish's The Weight of Ink, two in the 21st century mining historical documents to define the mysterious life of the scribe known as Aleph in Restoration London. Ester Velasquez—intellectual, undowered, and rebellious—is an outsider to even the small outsider Jewish community of 17th century London. Historian Helen Watt—alone, underappreciated, and ailing—shows us that the plight of intellectual women has not progressed much in 4 centuries. Kadish gives us the sights, sounds and smells of Charles II's London, including the terrors of the Black Plague. Her depiction of scholarly academic politics and the tyranny wielded by Rare Book Room librarians made me smile with reminiscence. The conclusion of the two intertwining stories is somewhat fairy tale-like, but I feel we want these characters to be rewarded after the trials they have undergone rather than opt for Hobbesian determinism. The Weight of Ink is a love story—though there are amorous couplings of many sorts in the novel, true love for its main characters is a love of learning, a love of intellectual discourse, a love of discovery. If you liked A. S. Byatt's Possession and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, this is the novel for you.
Betty B. (Irving, TX)
The Weight of Ink - A Weighty Book
At 560 pages long, The Weight of Ink tells the story of two different women, a woman scribe for a Rabbi in 1660s London, and an ailing historian in love with Jewish history in 2000 London. Helen has discovered a cache of 17th century Jewish documents and with the assistance of Aron Levy, an American graduate student, she works to understand the secrets of the scribe Ester. I really enjoyed learning about the role of the Jewish people in England in the 17th century, the role of an intelligent woman who wishes to be more than her religion and society will allow, and the theology of the time. This book takes time to read, but will reward the reader who finishes this fascinating story.
Gloria F. (York, PA)
Excellent historical fiction
"The Weight of Ink" (gosh, I love that title) is weighty with plot and weighty with words at 560 pages. Especially in the first chapters, I felt that tighter editing would have benefited the reader. Having said that, it's really just just one small complaint for an otherwise excellent book of historical fiction set in seventh century London.
The story has everything: the Inquisition, the plague, strong female characters, love both lost and found, philosophic debates and a mystery. I loved the women in this book and the way in which they refused to smother their intellect for the sake of society. Anyone who enjoyed "The Red Tent" will want to read this story.
Rachel Kadish is a gifted writer. I look forward to her next book.
Beatrice
Gripping in Spurts, disappointing ending (spoiler alert)
There was some great writing, but I agree with everyone who said that the book should have been edited and made 20% shorter. I also thought that the ending was so dragged out that I gave up once I got through the resolution of Ester's marriage, which I found wholly unbelievable (didn't the younger brother die??), quite an interesting twist on "happily ever after"! I thought the relationship between Ester and Rivka became very interesting and more could have been made of it in the end. The modern characters were far less interesting than Ester and her world. I'm glad I read it, even though A.S. Byatt's Possession is a better written book.
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