The Weight of Ink

 

I thought I'd written up a quick review about The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish after I finished reading. But I must have written the little blurb that went in our synagogue newsletter since this is the book we'll be discussing at our next book club meeting.

Set in London of the 1660s and the early 2000s, Kadish alternates between the stories of Ester Velasquez and Helen Watt. Ester is a Portuguese emigrant from Amsterdam and Helen is a university historian at the end of her career. The novel centers on the discovery of a cache of Jewish documents accidentally discovered by one of Helen’s former students as he and his wife prepare to start major home renovations. Helen takes on American assistant Aaron, and eventually they are in a race against another team of historians to get to the deeper story of the documents. Who was the author? Why were they hidden? What significance do they have today?

It’s quite an ambitious historical fiction novel (in other words fairly long) but it’s so full of very different subplots. One of my favorites was how Ester and her household navigated The Great Plague of London 1665. It was interesting to make comparisons from London life during The Plague to present life during Covid-19.

A major theme of the novel was the roles of women in both 2000 and the 1660s. I was able to understand Helen's choices but that's probably since I'm from the same era. Ester's choices were so much more limited and as such, the choices she does eventually make seemed so extreme.

There’s philosophy, romance, a connection to Israel. I would definitely not call this a "Jewish" book. There are references to Spinoza and Shakespeare. All in all, I found it an interesting read and I hope my fellow book club members agree. If you enjoyed People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, you'll enjoy The Weight of Ink.

I've promised my group that we'll select something more contemporary and a little less "weighty" (pun intended) for next time.