lgiunta's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
cyndin's review
4.0
Book two in a trilogy about Rashi's three daughters. Amazing research of 11th century Jewish life in France and beyond. Anton is also a sex researcher and she weaves that into these books. In book one it was pretty heavy handed but worked. Here it gets rather overwhelming. Her focus in book two is on male homosexuality with characters that either "give in" to their desires or who resist them (or some of both). On and on and on. Breathing a sigh of relief that in our time people can marry as they wish and don't have to force themselves to settle for someone they can never be attracted to (thus ruining the life of their spouse as well).
Miriam's story with midwifery and ritual circumcision is well done. I also loved reading about the everyday lives of the people, including their sex lives, to a point. A lot of time passes in this book and all three daughters grow up and have independent lives, learning trades.
Miriam's story with midwifery and ritual circumcision is well done. I also loved reading about the everyday lives of the people, including their sex lives, to a point. A lot of time passes in this book and all three daughters grow up and have independent lives, learning trades.
devrose's review
5.0
First, curse Maggie Anton for killing off Benjamin. Well, don't curse her, but that was really sad. I liked seeing how homosexuality worked in Rashi's time, though I felt bad for Miriam. I'm not sure whether to donate a copy of this one to William Way or not.
elephant's review
4.0
This second book follows Miriam, Rashi's second daughter. Although it is fiction, the author seems to have done good research and it is rich in historical detail which I enjoyed very much. Miriam's betrothed dies in a tragic accident and she marries Judah, who lusts after other men. I could have done without those details. However, it is still a good book and I enjoyed it very much. I am now reading the third book.
enchiladaplate's review
3.0
This book is the second in the Rashi's Daughters trilogy. It's historical fiction, based on a Jewish scholar and his family, who lived in Medieval France. I think I liked the first book (Joheved) better. This one seemed way too long. And I started to get bored with the religious discussions.
I enjoyed learning more about the people and customs of that time period. It's interesting to consider just how important religion was to people (and perhaps still is to some) - every decision they made (from when to leave on a journey, to social behavior, to setting a date for a wedding, etc) was based on some religious rule or superstition.
There were also some interesting discussions about homosexuality. Apparently it was considered normal for the male study partners to become enamored with each other, but it was forbidden for them to act on it, of course. Even so, people seemed to ignore it as long as nobody was getting hurt.
I almost abandoned this book halfway into it, but I hung in there. I really did want to find out what happened to the characters. And I might also read the third book about Rachel, who traveled a lot with her husband. I'm curious to learn how her life was different than her sisters, who stayed very close to home.
I enjoyed learning more about the people and customs of that time period. It's interesting to consider just how important religion was to people (and perhaps still is to some) - every decision they made (from when to leave on a journey, to social behavior, to setting a date for a wedding, etc) was based on some religious rule or superstition.
There were also some interesting discussions about homosexuality. Apparently it was considered normal for the male study partners to become enamored with each other, but it was forbidden for them to act on it, of course. Even so, people seemed to ignore it as long as nobody was getting hurt.
I almost abandoned this book halfway into it, but I hung in there. I really did want to find out what happened to the characters. And I might also read the third book about Rachel, who traveled a lot with her husband. I'm curious to learn how her life was different than her sisters, who stayed very close to home.
gglazer's review against another edition
3.0
Read about 90% of this in a single day while we were on vacation... a lot of fun, and I learned a little bit about Rashi and 11th-century Jewish women in the process.
celebrin's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as the first in the series. That being said, Ms. Anton's command of history is amazing. I also loved the idea that there are different kinds of love and different kinds of marriage.
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