Books Set in North America (Boston, Massachusetts) and Europe (Venice, Italy)

Playing with Fire, by Tess Gerritsen (2015)

Read: August 2, 2026

3 Stars

Books Set in North America (New Hampshire); Europe (Vienna); and Asia (Israel)

Queen Esther, by John Irving (2025)

John Irving is a very quirky author.  While the title seems to refer to Esther, a Jewish orphan, adopted as a young teen to be a nanny to the daughter of the Winslow family, much of the book actually focuses on her son, Jimmy.  Esther was born in Vienna, Austria in 1905.  Soon after her birth, her family immigrated to the United States to escape the growing antisemitism.  Sadly, antisemitism was prevalent in the United States as well, and Esther's mother was murdered antisemites in Maine.  (Her father had died en route to the United States.)

The Winslows of New Hampshire provide Esther with a loving, but non-Jewish, family.  She grew up knowing of her Jewish background and values.  She is determined not to marry, but does agree to be the birth mother to Jimmy, who will be raised by Honor Winslow.  Esther longs to find her Jewish roots and becomes like the biblical Queen Esther and work to protect the Jews post-World War II.  Her life becomes mysterious and her Winslow family believes she has ties to Israel's Mossad.

Esther's son is curious about his birth mother and her ties to Judaism.  He also is determined to become a writer, so travels to Vienna, the place of his mother's birth.  At this point, the novel takes a turn and we meet all the quirky characters that are Irving's signature.

Irving's descriptions of live in New Hampshire are so New England.  His take on the formation of Israel are also so vivid and factual.  As he describes walking down the streets of Jerusalem, I felt as though I, too, were walking with Jimmy.  As Jimmy meets people, he has the opportunity to determine his own life course ~ is he the child of Esther, or of Honor?

I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this novel, but got bogged down my much of the middle of the book.

3 Stars

Read: January 27, 2026

Books Set in Asia; Jerusalem, Israel

Second Person Singular, Sayed Kashua (2010)

This novel follows two Arab-Israeli men living in Jerusalem.  The first man, identified only as lawyer, is a hot-shot defense lawyer with a successful practice, a wife and a loving family.  His story is told in the third-person narrative.  The other man, a social-worker turned artist, tells his story in the first-person.  The novel goes back and forth between the two men as we learn about their lives and backgrounds.  They are conflicted about their lives as Arab-Israelis.

The lawyer is happy with his life until he purchases a book and finds a note in his wife's handwriting within the book's pages.  Convinced it is a love letter, he is determined to find the author of the note. a note in his wife's handwriting in a used book.  The social worker quits his job and becomes a caretaker for a severely injured and vegetative young Jewish man.  Their lives become intertwined as the lawyer become increasingly paranoid about the owner of the note written by his wife.

The novel explores the identity of Arabs who are assimilated into Israeli culture.

Read: August 8, 2025

4 Stars

Books Set in North America, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love and Plenty, by Bonny Reichert (2025)

Read:  June 16, 2026

5 Stars

Books Set in South America, Argentina

Stranger in the Desert, by Jordan Salama (2024)

The author, Jordan Salama, seeks to learn more about his family history after finding a notebook his grandfather had compiled called Historia Antigua.  Although living in New York, Jordan’s family roots were Sephardic, Syrian, and Argentinian, which in South American were referred to as turco.  Turco referred to the fact that many people immigrated to South America pre-World War I when much of the middle east was under Ottoman control.

Jordan knew that his father’s family had immigrated to Argentina in the 1920s and that his great-grandfather was a traveling salesman.  Many first-generation immigrants to Argentina during this period became traveling salesmen.  The local population in the more remote areas of Argentina relied on the salesmen to bring them supplies.

So, Jordan traveled to Argentina to search for traces of his family.  His grandfather still had family and a few contacts in Buenos Aires, so Jordan started his trek there.  After spending time with his extended family in Buenos Aires, Jordan set out for the Andes hoping to follow the trail of his great-grandfather.  He meets many people along the way and as he goes, he realized what a melting pot his Sephardic Jewish background blends in, and is influenced by, the surrounding cultures.

I loved reading about Jordan’s travels and the people he met along his search.

Read: July 9, 2024

5 Stars

Books Set in Europe, Poland

A Meal in Winter, by Hubert, Mingarelli (2012), translated from the French by Sam Taylor

Read: January 26, 2024

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Rome, Italy

Eternal, by Lisa Scottoline (2021)

This novel is about Italy during World War II, Fascism and the treatment of Jews.

Although the novel was historically correct, I didn't care for the characters.  (It even addresses Syndrome K, which was how Catholic doctors saved a number of Jews by convincing the Nazis that the Jews were infected with a highly contagious disease called Syndrome K).

The plot revolved around three teenagers:  Sandro, Marco and Elisabetta.  They have been friends from childhood.  The two boys vie for Elisabetta, who professes to love them both.  Marco and Elizabetta are both Catholic; Sandro is Jewish.  Sandro's father initially supported Mussolini, until Germany invaded Italy and Jews were forced into the Ghetto, then the camps.

The story line with Sandro, Marco, and Elisabetta didn't ring true.

Read:  September 3, 2023

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe, Barcelona, Spain

Cathedral of the Sea, by Ildefono Falcones (2006)

Cathedral of the Sea is a historical novel set in 14th Century Barcelona.  The novel spans from 1320 to 1384 and follows the life of Arnau, who was born into a serfdom.  His mother was brutally raped by the landowner on her wedding night and was later forced to become wetnurse to the lord’s family.  Arnau’s father escapes with his son to the free city Barcelona where they attempt to make a life together.

Life is not easy, but Arnau and his father find contentment.  Arnau became friends with a young boy near his age who becomes his adopted brother, Joan.  As children, the two boys were inseparable.  They find comfort worshiping at the foot of the Virgin Mary in the cathedral that is being built.  Arnau joins the stone-worker’s guild, called bastaixos, while his brother joins the Church.  Ultimately, Arnau becomes very wealthy and is instrumental in providing funds to the king for protecting the city.  In exchange for providing funds, the king forces Arnau into a marriage with Eleanor, a spiteful baroness.  It is a loveless marriage that was never consummated and could be Arnau's downfall.

Arnau befriends members of the city’s Jewish community.  This puts him at odds with the Church and the inquisition.  Joan has become an inquisitor, Arnau is hauled before his brother to answer for his sins.

[Spoiler Alert: The reader was led to believe that Arnau's mother had died.  She appears deep into the novel as a prostitute in Barcelona.

This is a very long novel and was originally written in Spanish.  I liked it, but didn’t love it.  Perhaps something was lost in translation.

Read:  May 27, 2023

3.5 Stars

Books Set in Europe and North America: Germany and Alabama, United States

The German Wife, by Kelly Rimmer (2022)

Read:  August 28, 2022

4 Stars

Books Set in North America: the United States

How to Fight Anti-Semitism, by Bari Weiss (2019)

 

Antisemitism is on the rise in the United States.  In this book, journalist Bari Weiss provides a brief history of antisemitism in the Western world and how it has manifested itself throughout the years.  Antisemitism has many faces.   It displays itself very differently depending on one’s political bent.  Some displays of antisemitism are obvious and violent.  Other displays are more subtle.  I found the first part of this book to be all over the map, as the author wanted to include so much.

 

The last chapter of the book was the most informative and provided tools that American Jews must use to combat antisemitism.

 

Read:  July 17, 2021

 

3 Stars