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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A novel swinging between 17th-century London’s Jewish community and modern-day academia, this is a fascinating book. Old papers are discovered in a “stately home” outside London, and a university professor, near her retirement, is called in to examine them. They turn out to be documents from a rabbi’s household in the Restoration Era, when Jews were permitted to live in London after centuries of banishment. The professor doesn’t know who wrote these documents, some of which are letters to eminent rabbis and philosophers abroad — even to Spinoza — but we do, thanks to Kadish’s masterful evocation of life in 17th-century London. I won’t spoil the plots (both old and modern) for the reader by revealing more. Kadish raises serious questions about religion, philosophy and the human desire for knowledge. The Weight of Ink is one of the best in intellectual entertainment.
One of the best books I have read in many years. A historical novel taking place in the 1600’s. The character development and the attention to detail were excellent. I was left wanting more information particularly about the philosopher de Spinoza. It’s a must read that I will return to many times.
One of the best I have ever read!
I learned a lot about a period of history unfamiliar to me.
Could not put this book down. I found it intelligent, interesting and inspirational.
I am in love with this book.
Some books are easy. A few are complicated and yet fun. Others are sad and leave you wanting. Some tell a story and others just spin a tale.
This book is epic. The dual timelines are both a beautiful and haunting discourse of their own time period in Jewish history. The characters in each period dive straight into your heart and take root there. I found myself both absorbed so completely by the time period I was reading and at the same time eager to start where I left off the other. It’s a dramatic tango of interwoven beauty. Because even though one story is so key to the other, you will definitely see that “the space between things is vast”.
One period is so intricately attached to the other it’s hard to decide which you love the most.
The writing is exquisite. Here are just a few of my favorite lines:
The richer a man gets, the richer he is in fear.
People go through life trying to please an audience. But once you realize there is no audience, life is simple.
What’s gone and what’s past help – should also be past grief.
The book is a modern day masterpiece, imho. Rarely have I been so deeply touched by such beauty in modern literature.
Well done, Ms. Kadish!
Took a while to get into it, but well worth it. Plot lines and characters in both time periods were exceptional.
Strange, slow moving, complicated and a bit depressing.
Very brilliantly constructed as it skipped around from different centuries and different decades, but the surprise ending was the huge pay off. I loved it! Extremely well written.
I found the historical documentation difficult at times but the characters & story engrossing really well done historical fiction
Fascinating intertwining of two threads of stories reaching across 350 years. A young Jewish woman, who against the social expectations of the post Inquisition period, is taught to read and reason. Letters found by historians centuries later lead to unraveling the mysteries surrounding the 17th life of the young woman.
This is a great story told in two separate threads, one current and one historical. It involves a young Jewish woman who defied tradition and the historians who discover her writings. The historical detail and character development is superb!
Spanning hundreds of years, this book explores the lives of scholars and joy in the search for knowledge. Characters are fully drawn, and the plots (book is divided into two parts) are both very satisfying. Not a quick easy read but an enormously engaging novel.
A step into the past, during a dark time for humanity, this book follows a woman’s journey to be true to herself. Very good read!
I enjoyed the interplay of past and present, as the novel takes place in both the present and the 15th century. Well written, good character development, and historically interesting.
If you only read one piece of fiction this year, make it this. If you loved People of the Book, you will love this. It was remarkable on every level.
The Weight of Ink is a historical novel about a young educated Jewish woman in 1660s London. The book is quite long, but well worth your time. Her story is framed by a modern one about a pair of historians, one beginning his career, and one ending hers, who research a hidden trove of documents discovered under the stairs of a 350 year-old-house. There is a lot about religious philosophy but just in the context of the narrative. It is a wonderfully written story about one woman’s struggle to live a life that is different from the one she is told she must live.
A stunning and compelling mystery that weaves enchantment from the early 1691 settlements of Jewish merchants, scholars, and families from settlements Amsterdam, and the Spanish diaspora; an older historical manuscripts scholar in 2000, and her oddly unique partnership with a young scholar roped in to assist her.
The mysterious discovery of historically significant old texts on parchment and in inks unknown in current time, become a treasure trove discovered during the remodeling of a staircase. A small locked cabinet under the stair lay undisturbed for centuries. Now these manuscripts become a puzzle to be deciphered through intense scrutiny and a passion for old texts.
Will they be lost again? Who wrote them? Do they contain a correspondence with the Jewish philosopher Spinoza and a mysterious admirer? Is it a battle of philosophies, or heresy?
You decide, as you immerse yourself in this treasure of a book. Well researched, and a seductive historical style that takes you deep into the lives of early Jews in London.
This mesmerizing tale will have you fascinated with the wisdom and compassion of the young girl assigned as a scribe to a blind Rabbinical Scholar, and their developing relationship. Despite the prohibition against writing and scripture for girls, her innate intelligence and intellectual curiosity gather learning with a hunger unmatched by others. Does her curiosity have no bounds? You will love the passion for knowledge that drives her toward crossing traditional boundaries.
The best book I read in the last year! And I read a lot!
One of the most beautifully written and crafted stories I’ve read in many years.
This is a gorgeous historical epic…with well-drawn characters and a literary quest.