A review by eserafina42
The Book of V. by Anna Solomon
4.0
Biblical stories are always subject to reinterpretation in the light of current times, and this is especially true of the book of Esther, as we are reminded by the endless variations in our annual Purimspiel. The character of the king’s rebellious first wife, Vashti, in particular, has become a feminist icon in recent years.
In her latest novel, The Book of V, novelist Anna Solomon gives her own spin to the age-old story, intertwining a retelling of the biblical book with the lives of two modern women: Vivian Kent (nee Barr), a political wife in the Nixon era who finds herself in a similar situation to Vashti’s; and Lily Rubenstein, a second wife facing the imminent death of her mother, Ruth, as she attempts to prepare her young daughters for her temple’s Purimspiel.
Solomon moves deftly among her three narratives - the story of Esther, which is at the same time both more realistic and more fantastic than the original; Vivian’s emancipation from her blue-blooded New England background; and Lily’s struggle with the conflict between love of her family and regret for the writing career she put on hold, as well as her lingering jealousy of her husband’s first wife. In all three stories, the relationships between women - whether friends, mothers and daughters, or first and second wives - are woven together and celebrated in all their complexity.
In her latest novel, The Book of V, novelist Anna Solomon gives her own spin to the age-old story, intertwining a retelling of the biblical book with the lives of two modern women: Vivian Kent (nee Barr), a political wife in the Nixon era who finds herself in a similar situation to Vashti’s; and Lily Rubenstein, a second wife facing the imminent death of her mother, Ruth, as she attempts to prepare her young daughters for her temple’s Purimspiel.
Solomon moves deftly among her three narratives - the story of Esther, which is at the same time both more realistic and more fantastic than the original; Vivian’s emancipation from her blue-blooded New England background; and Lily’s struggle with the conflict between love of her family and regret for the writing career she put on hold, as well as her lingering jealousy of her husband’s first wife. In all three stories, the relationships between women - whether friends, mothers and daughters, or first and second wives - are woven together and celebrated in all their complexity.