Book Review – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue V.E. Schwab
In her intelligent and imaginative new novel, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab demonstrates again, as she did in her Shades of Magic trilogy, her ability to give life to unforgettable characters who navigate a magical world of pure joy. Addie’s exciting journey starts in France in 1714 and continues for nearly 300 years,…
Read MoreEphron Masterfully Weaves a World of Magic
The belief in magic harks back to Persia and to the pre-Islamic period of the Zoroastrians. Magi, the term for Zoroastrian priests and learned magicians, is the root of magic, which has always played a prominent role in Persian literature. The past two decades have seen a surge in magical-themed stories in the Western world,…
Read MoreEphron Stumbles Across Magic in Researching Her Fantasy
I called Amy Ephron, expecting the usual type of interview to take place, presenting one by one the questions I had carefully outlined about her newest books, “The Castle in the Mist” and its companion, “Carnival Magic,” and then jotting down her replies. But I should have known that creative minds possess their own…
Read MoreThe Blessing of Sorrow: Turning Grief into Healing
Having not yet recovered from the unexpected loss of my young cousin, I had mixed feelings about reviewing The Blessing of Sorrow: Turning Grief into Healing by Rabbi Ben Kamin. I did not want to subject myself to more sorrow by reading about death. Then, it occurred to me that my cousin died two years…
Read More4 TIPS ON HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM A NEUROTIC WRITER-SPOUSE BY BEST-SELLNG AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEWER, AND WIFE
Right after I type the last period at the end of the last sentence of each of my novels, my fifth now, I stare at that sentence for a long time and wonder whether the novel is really, really finished, and I mean done, and if so how in the world did I manage to…
Read MoreHalf-Jews outlast Nazi regime in 'The Kaminsky Cure'
It is to the great credit of Christopher New, the author of the “The Kaminsky Cure” (Delphinium Books), that one is able to laugh, if not out loud, at least to smile sadly, while utterly immersed in a story that takes place in Europe during the most shameful time in our not-so-distant history. A…
Read MoreThe Velvet Hours
A valuable 14th century Haggadah inscribed by a Sephardic rabbi and beautifully illustrated by his talented wife takes center stage in Alyson Richman’s richly imagined sixth novel, The Velvet Hours. The theme of the Haggadah, read during Passover at the Seder table, is the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery and their exodus from Egypt—a…
Read More"The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem": A tale of love and war in pre-state Israel
“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” by Sarit Yishai-Levi (Thomas Dunn Books/St. Martin’s Press) Every now and then, a multi-generational novel such as “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” by Sarit Yishai-Levi (Thomas Dunn Books/St. Martin’s Press) comes along, so rich with potent curses, outlandish customs, eccentric characters, and forbidden loves, readers might find the story somewhat…
Read MoreA Story of Love and Disappointment, and the Life of Artist Camille Pissaro
Photo is from the cover of “The Marriage of Opposites” (Simon and Schuster) Alice Hoffman’s sentences possess a musical cadence that demand to be read aloud like poetry, which I often did with great pleasure as I read “The Marriage of Opposites” (Simon and Schuster). The story of Rachel Pomié Petit Pizzarro and her son,…
Read MorePassover Persian Style
It is 1980, my first night of Seder in America. I am expecting 50 guests, not a large number by Persian standards. I am, nevertheless, nervous. Mrs. Seidleman, my soon-to-be American friend, is invited tonight, and it’s imperative that the image of us Iranians as a bunch of camel-riding, uncivilized nomads, who parade American hostages…
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