By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Some novels offer a simple plot, at least, at first glance. For example, readers might be excused for thinking that “The Anatomy of Exile” by Zeeva Bukai (Delphinium Books) is only a story of forbidden love between a Jewish Israeli and a Muslim Palestinian. Howe…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
An increasing number of books are offering female role models for Jewish tweens and teens to emulate. However, that doesn’t mean that adults won’t also find much to enjoy in “Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women” by Julie Esther Silverstein and T…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Writing a review of book that turns out to be very different from what you expected can be difficult. For example, I mistakenly thought “Conceived in Hope: The Struggles of Biblical Mothers in the Tapestry of Redemption” by Chana Tannenbaum (Maggid Books) was go…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Years ago, an author told me that she enjoyed seeing her novel “in dialogue” with a second book. I’d never phrased it that way before, but, when two books inform each other, it is usually far more interesting to read and review them together. This was true of …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“Going Home”
How to define a family is just one of the questions raised by Tom Lamont’s “Going Home” (Alfred A. Knopf). When 30-something Téo Erskine volunteers to babysit Joel, a toddler who is the son of his friend and former crush Lia, he doesn’t ex…
