The Matchmaker's Gift - Book Review

 

The Matchmaker's Gift

Lynda Cohen Loigman

4 stars 

Pub date Sept 2022

 

 

Sara has a gift, she 'sees' the connection between those meant to be together. Her granddaughter, who we meet in 1994, discovers the grandmother's secrets in the journals left to her and fights hard initially to deny her own skills in matters of the heart.

This is a lovely, heart-reaching story of the drawing together of beloveds. Sara in 1912 is confronted by the shatken, the traditional male matchmakers, who believe that a single woman could not/should not be a matchmaker.

Decades later, Abby fights against the belief of true love as a divorce lawyer. However, her bond to her grandmother gives her the faith to put kindness and humility first for a non-conventional meeting of partners and is told with humour and insight. 'The heart is big enough to hold both grief and love.'

Sara and Abby, decades apart must be brave enough to deal with current thinking and be true to themselves. Different eras, different challenges, but similar in their truths about love.

The sprinkling of Yiddish phrases and Jewish customs were a bonus and lend depth to the history of matchmaking. The descriptions of food, dress and old New York culture were wonderful too. 'A sentence from a story was easy to forget, but it took only one whiff of Raskin's pickled herring for the memory to live on in a customer's nostrils forever.'

In reference to the dark side of the early/mid 1900s, when so many Jewish lives were lost, the commitment of the matchmakers becomes apparent. They are doing their part for the survivors to continue their culture and faith. This was an unexpected and heart-wrenching description of history.

I so enjoyed these characters and feel that you too will cheer them on to their individual happy endings and continue to think of them when you are finished reading.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #St.Martin'sPress for this early copy of a truly enjoyable book. 

Next up, Sea of Tranquility. I waited a long time on a waitlist at the public library for this one.

It's still hot here, and I'm still reading. You?


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Picture Bride - Book Review

Image
  The Picture Bride Lee Geum-yi 3 stars I realize that this book was a translation, so be prepared for the stilted language that did not flow, sentences that are choppy and it took some resolve to work through. Although aspects of the Korean independence were an important part of the background, I was not able to assimilate that story and found it quite confusing. It was interesting to know that many Asian people chose to settle in Hawaii and how difficult it was to establish yourself to gain any kind of affluence. The history of descrimination held true and is always difficult to hear. The female characters were interesting enough but if I had borrowed this book from the public library, it would have gone back early. If you have some prior knowledge and/or interest in the Korean culture, you will likely be more inclined to persevere. This book was a slog for me. The deceptions told to secure a young bride, is saddening of course, but not entirely surprising. The emotion that was r...
Read more

The Diamond Eye - Book Review

Image
  The Diamond Eye Kate Quinn 4.5 stars Pub March 2022           Kate Quinn does it again with her combination of historical WWII and her creative license. The mix is seamless and the amount of research is definitely to be applauded. Quinn traces the true story of Mila from a university student studying history into a Russian sniper. The book moves at a riveting pace covering the invasion by the Germans but also spends time on the complexity of a woman who was also a mother, a student, a lover, a sniper and a hero. Mila's friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt is a touching part of the story, one's dedication to her husband, the other's to the motherland. Each one appreciating the strength the other displays. A truly well-told historical story, although no more ironic words could have been written in light of the current situation between Russia and the Ukraine.  I will never apologize for fighting the war that came to our doorstep in 1941. Germany invaded u...
Read more

The Secret Life of Sunflowers - Book Review

Image
  The Secret Life of Sunflowers Marta Molnar 2.5 stars (but keep reading my review for what I learned) Told through the voices of Johanna van Gogh (1887) and Emsley Wilson (current), this book held promise but failed to deliver. I was fascinated by the story of Johanna, who is largely unknown for her role in bringing her brother-in-law’s artistry to the public. She is the reason that I kept reading. The story line for Emsley, her character, and the challenge she faced was weak in holding my interest. I typically would not review a book here that I wouldn't recommend to a friend. So let me tell you why you are now reading this. van Gogh was certainly a tormented soul (as many true artist types were/are), but the way his fame and appreciation of his life became prominent was unknown to me. What this book offered me was the curiousity to look a little deeper into his fame and how easily the world would have been deprived of his talent. I found the author’s experience in adventure/rom...
Read more