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A review by joaniesaltzman
The River Midnight by Lilian Nattel
3.0
Deserves a 3.5, I think. Nattel paints a moving portrait of the lives of Polish Jews in the 19th century, with every character beautifully fleshed out and fully human. Nattel has beautiful wisdom to share about our relationships to each other, to the world, and to God.
Unfortunately, she drags an otherwise wonderful novel down by repeating every event at least three times. The book is split into three parts, one for the women of the village, one for the men, and on for the midwife, Misha: the wild, unmarried, pregnant woman who provides the gossip and remedies that keep the town going. Each chapter in each section focuses on a different character as they experience the events that rock the village over the course of about a year. Each chapter ends at the beginning of Misha's labor...and the next picks up again at the beginning of the year, as the reader does her best not to throw the book against the wall.
I started this book in August, and when I finished the women's section and saw I was going to have to repeat every event AGAIN from the perspectives of four men, I put the book down and just picked it up again two days ago (the twelfth of December). The saving grace is the different histories given of each character, that make each chapter and perspective different. Each character recounts parts of their own lives that are unique to them, which makes the book compelling enough to finish.
Unfortunately, she drags an otherwise wonderful novel down by repeating every event at least three times. The book is split into three parts, one for the women of the village, one for the men, and on for the midwife, Misha: the wild, unmarried, pregnant woman who provides the gossip and remedies that keep the town going. Each chapter in each section focuses on a different character as they experience the events that rock the village over the course of about a year. Each chapter ends at the beginning of Misha's labor...and the next picks up again at the beginning of the year, as the reader does her best not to throw the book against the wall.
I started this book in August, and when I finished the women's section and saw I was going to have to repeat every event AGAIN from the perspectives of four men, I put the book down and just picked it up again two days ago (the twelfth of December). The saving grace is the different histories given of each character, that make each chapter and perspective different. Each character recounts parts of their own lives that are unique to them, which makes the book compelling enough to finish.