WINNER OF A NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD A USA TODAY BESTSELLER “A gifted writer, astonishingly adept at nuance, narration, and the politics of passion.”—Toni Morrison 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 … 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.
When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of newly discovered seventeenth-century Jewish documents, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents’ scribe, the elusive “Aleph.”
Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.
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I read this for my book club. It took me a while, because this is a book that cannot be skimmed. But its surprises are many and the payoff at the end is great. Like any sweeping historical, it asks giant questions: does human suffering serve a purpose? What is the price of loyalty? Because the book takes place on two timelines 350 years apart, it’s natural for the reader to develop more interest and patience for one timeline vs. the other. But I felt an equal allegiance as I soldiered into the last 100 pages, needed to know what happened to everyone involved.
I just finished it. It’s very long but inspiring if you like libraries, research, Jewish, Spanish and British history, the contrast between Americans and British people. The story is complex and tragic on many levels, deals with class struggle, philosophies (especially Spinoza) has surprises and wraps everything up very nicely to the last page. The writing g is beautiful and it is in the end a life affirming book.
An exceptional book, beautifully written, moving between the 1600s and 2000s with characters original and compelling. At one point I gasped while reading (it was 3:00am!) and my husband said, “What’s wrong?” “I just didn’t see that coming,” I said. Such an inventive, informative plot about the Jewish experience in England in the 1600s. Brilliantly written.
Beautifully written and a page turner at the same time! The Weight of Ink has both a literal and metaphorical meaning. It takes place in the present and in the past,and each character seems to be drawn with an uncompromising truth, particularly the major, elderly female character in the modern day who absolutely forbids anyone to feel sorry for her, especially the reader, and so one doesn’t; finding instead a deep respect for her principles, a compassion for her struggle against forces against which she, and those of us who so fiercely love books and the knowledge they carry into the future.
I would never want to spoil the central mystery of the novel (which is absolutely deliciously unspooled), but it was worth it. The resonance of my own concerns about what will be preserved from our own age, particularly the written page, I’ll admit, made certain melancholy aspects of the novel strike me more deeply.
Readers who enjoy this novel should also investigate the novels of Connie Willis which involve time travel and are funny, moving, and even though they take place in a setting where time travel is possible, are quite different from each other. Part of the humor comes from how much we academically are convinced we know about the past versus the reality of any age (which the Weight of Ink shares).
Readers who are interested particularly in the stories of Judaism in the time of the Inquisition would be strongly advised to check out the books by Richard Zimmler (spelling), particularly The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon – another extraordinarily evocative book which does not involve leaving the 1600s :). Hope this helps and that it’s not too long. (My very first review, phew!)
The two time lines give a full picture of a time gone by in which Jews were not safe. Hidden documents and hidden identities make this a very interesting read. Both time lines have romantic relationships, conflicts and unhappiness and ultimate understanding. A wonderful book to read and re-read.
I just didn’t like it. Couldn’t get into
Goes deep into Jewish history in the middle ages in Europe. Very complicated to follow and a slow read if you are paying attention to the background passages. However, there is a modern story entwined with this and I found it an easier balance to the deep reading needed. Not an easy read.
This novel deserves all the allocades it has received and more. Kadish has done a marvelous job of weaving together the story of Ester, scribe to the rabbi, blinded by the torture of the Inquisition (1660s), and Helen, stiriving to unravel Ester’s life as she pours over the documents found hidden in an old house in England (2001)
The story is complex, the characters more so, effectivley ensnaring the reader into their times and lives.
This is not a book you put down easily each evening knowing you can’t get back to it until the next day.
BLURB
“A gifted writer, astonishingly adept at nuance, narration, and the politics of passion.”—Toni Morrison
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.
When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of newly discovered seventeenth-century Jewish documents, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents’ scribe, the elusive “Aleph.”
Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.
http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com
Having read this book awhile ago, I cannot give a long review of it. The characters were real and the writing was entertaining. The history of the Jews in the history of early Israel was informative and unfortunately realistic. Why the world always needs people/nations to lean on or hold up as scapegoats is beyond my comprehension. The book has a love story in its background and the strength of the people of Israel and their relationships with other countries are understandably complicated. I enjoyed reading the story of the female scribe and how she deals with the unfair way females were treated at that period of time plus in her own religion. I found the book enjoyable and informative.
Fascinating story set in areas very familiar to me although I never knew this history.
Ester and Mary will stay with me for a long time. I do wish not to have had to read late into the night, this book took days to finish. However, the intensity, depth and history of the story kept me going. If you like stories with strong, thinking women figures, don’t miss this one.
This gifted author has re-created the world of late Seventeenth-Century London, and in particular that of its small Jewish population. Banished from England in the Thirteenth Century, Jews, mostly refugees from Eastern Europe’s pogroms and the Inquisition of Spain and Portugal, are again living openly (if quietly) in post Cromwell England. Among them are a blind rabbi and his scribe, a tragically gifted young woman who seeks to live in the world of ideas, but her gender doesn’t allow it. This story alternates with the contemporary tale of a brash graduate student and his boss, an elderly woman professor, who together discover long-hidden papers revealing the tale of the hitherto unknown woman scribe. Written in beautifully evocative prose, the author has created a book for the ages. Don’t miss it–it kept me up long past my bedtime.
History or fiction? A novel packed with well researched history, so a fusion of both. A former student of Professor Watt asks her to evaluate a cache of documents he found under the stairs in his newly purchased 300 year old house. This leads us into a dual timeline story of the Sephardim Jews of Amsterdam as told by Ester, and the current day timeline which tells the story of Professor Watt, and of Aaron Levy, the grad student she hires as an assistant to work with the documents.
Ester Velasquez, a young woman who some say was over-indulged by her father because he educated her along side her brother, is orphaned by a devastating house fire that destroys her family’s wealth. She is taken in by blind Rabbi Ha-Cohen as he leaves Amsterdam to teach the Sephardic community in London, and eventually becomes his scribe, a serious break with the traditional role of 17th century women.
As Helen Watt and Aaron Levy study the documents he begins to see her not as the forbidding academic of his first impression, but as a very human person, and they develop an academic partnership, as well as a personal relationship.
The story is fascinating, especially if you love history or historical fiction and the characters are very well developed. All I have said above is only the tip of the iceberg of this riveting story. Makes me want to read the author’s other novels.
One of the best books I’ve ever read. Great characters. Educational for European history and Judaism. The characters are multidimensional.
A look at a little looked at period of Jewish history filled with wonderful characters.
Really interesting. Beautifully written and I loved the way the author handled the time shifts.Great book.
As a history buff of sorts, I got completely caught up in Rachel Kadish’s bifurcated story – on the one part the modern day historian researchers and on the other hand the world of the Jews in 17th century England and Holland.
It deals with the Jewish culture in London both in the 17th century and current day. It presents a chapter of Jewish history by using fictional circumstances.
One of my favorites from 2019. So informative about Jewish history in London after the Crusades.
An amazing accomplishment. Incredibly well researched with fascinating characters, this is a long novel, definitely not a quick read. But I was pulled in from the first chapter when Helen, an academic historian approaching retirement, is invited by a former student to examine some ancient documents discovered under a staircase in the house he and his wife have inherited. One of Helen’s colleagues has assigned Aaron, a young American graduate at loose ends, to assist her in this project. These two can hardly be more unalike, but they embark on the effort to decipher the letters, which turn out to be written by “Aleph” or Ethel, a mysterious female scribe from a 17th century Jewish community in London. Ethel defied the expectations and norms of her time to assert her right to think and read and write about the issues of the day. The narrative unfolds, switching back and forth between the 1660’s and the early 2000’s, with momentous changes in the lives of all the characters. Some of the 17th century sections dragged for me, and I had to gloss over the more complex philosophical debates that preoccupied Ethel. But it’s impossible not to cheer for this strong, independent woman. The descriptions of London during the years of the great plague have special resonance now, in light of our current situation living in a pandemic. It’s fascinating to read about people living in fear of contagion, the mounting death toll, the panic exodus out of the city, and those who stay noting the eerie quiet, and even the clearer air since the factories have closed. down. Here we are, in such a different era, dealing with some of the same stuff. Historical fiction is a wonderful way to bring the past to life, and this novel excels in this endeavor.