The Romance Reader

by Pearl Abraham

Overview

Widely applauded when it was published last year, Pearl Abraham's debut novel The Romance Reader possesses that quality that distinguishes all great fiction—a fresh look at the universal truths that bind us together. Like Chaim Potok, who revealed the Orthodox Jewish world from a young man's perspective in The Chosen, Abraham explores new ground, offering readers a tender story of a young Hasidic woman facing the challenges of growing up and the demands of her religion.

Rachel Benjamin is the daughter of a quixotic rabbi who dreams of building a synagogue in the secluded upstate New York bungalow colony where his family now lives. As the rabbi's eldest daughter, Rachel is expected to set an example for her five siblings and for the other girls in the community: she must wear thick opaque tights with seams; she is forbidden to wear a bathing suit in public; and she can never read books in English. But like all young adults, Rachel bristles at the stringent rules set by her family and her religion, rebelling in ways that become increasingly apparent. Whether sneaking sheer nylons in and out of the house or applying for an illicit library card that will allow her access to the romance novels that she loves, Rachel is determined to do things her way. Dreaming of a life that mirrors that of the heroines in her favorite novels, Rachel craves the independence she will never have as a Hasidic woman in an arranged marriage. And yet, as her impending marriage draws inevitably nearer, the pulls of family and faith weigh against the frightening and unknown world beyond her own.

This coming-of-age tale is both unusual and familiar—an intriguing, heartfelt look at the power of family and religion in the Hasidic community and the universal desire to leave the nest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573225489
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/1996
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.11(w) x 7.98(h) x 0.78(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Pearl Abraham is the author of the novels The Romance Reader and Giving Up America, and the editor of the Dutch anthology Een Sterke Vrouw: Jewish Heroines in Literature. Her work has appeared in Brooklyn Noir, The Michigan Quarterly, Religion in America, Dog Culture: Writers on the Character of Canines, and Forward.

What People are Saying About This

Naomi Ragen

"I simply couldn't put the Romance Reader down. It is bravely told, both funny and heartbreaking."

Editorial Reviews

"This story, dealing as it does with guilt and God, is about a journey as brave as Huck Finn's, as difficult as Holden Caulfield's, as stark as any I've read."
—Anne Roiphe, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Wonderful . . . sheds light on two intriguing mysteries: life within an ultra-Orthodox Jewish communiy and the bittersweet passage through female adolescence."
—Hilma Wolitzer, Newsday

"An assured, smoothly written book, narrated in a muted voice that seems to whisper secrets into the reader's ear."
—The New York Times Book Reveiw

"Compelling throughout . . . we don't want to leave Rachel without knowing everything that happens to her for the rest of her life."
—San Francisco Chronicle

From the Publisher

Abraham shows strong talent in her debut novel, the story of a young girl's coming-of-age in an ultraorthodox Hasidic home. The reader soon cares deeply about narrator Rachel, the eldest of six children, who yearns for some of the forbidden fruits of the secular world. Her rebbe father is another endearing character; he dreams of establishing a major synagogue and learning center even while he desperately looks for a 10th man for a minyan for his sparse congregation. Most of the story takes place in a suburban community that receives an influx of Hasidim in the summer months; for the rest of the year, the rebbe's family is the neighborhood curiosity. Rachel is a dutiful child who tries hard to please her mother, an angry woman who belittles her husband's dreams and wants to be part of one of Brooklyn's larger Hasidic enclaves. Rachel's glimpses of the larger world come from casual and often uncomfortable encounters with non-Jews and secular Jews in her town, but especially from romance novels, which she reads secretly. Her seemingly flagrant behavior (she refuses to wear seamed, opaque stockings, opting instead for seamless, and will not wear a cover-up over her bathing suit while teaching young girls to swim) brings shame to her family and endangers a marital opportunity for her brilliant younger brother. Despite her resolve to establish a more independent life, Rachel agrees to an arranged marriage, both to make her family happy and as a first step toward a new existence. When this match goes awry, Rachel's solution is both funny and bittersweet. Abraham's intense, sensitive prose and her ability to create vivid scenes and memorable characters augment this authentic, often disturbing, look at Hasidic home life and beliefs. Literary Guild featured alternate; author tour. (Aug.).

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

YA-As the oldest child of Rebbe (Rabbi) Benjamin, Rachel, 12, is expected to follow the traditions of her ultra-Orthodox Chassidic family, and to set a good example for her six siblings. She must be modest, chaste, and obedient, even though, she is bursting to explore the world of her classmates. She wants to be a lifeguard, but wearing a bathing suit is ``improper.'' Her parents protect Rachel from straying from the right-and-righteous way, or bringing shame to herself and her family. Every issue becomes a battle of wills, with Rachel always pushing the limits and sidestepping the restrictions. She surreptitiously obtains some coveted romance novels, which are her only source of sex information prior to her arranged marriage at age 18. Rachel is a memorable character, capable, spirited, intuitive, and difficult. Her mother is brilliantly drawn as a complex, high-strung woman who wants the same kind of life for her daughter that has made her own so unhappy. This fast-paced, easy-to-read, coming-of-age story weaves Chassidic laws and customs into Rachel's first-person narrative. Students will sympathize with the girl's struggle to create a meaningful path that differs from that of her family and friends.-Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

"Wonderful...sheds light on two intriguing mysteries: life within an ultraorthodox Jewish community and the bittersweet passage through female adolescence." -- Newsday

Hilma Wolitzer

"This story, dealing as it does with guilt and gog, is about a journey as brave as Huck Finn's, as difficult as Holden Colfield's, as stark as any I've read." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

Anne Roithe

Toren's versatile voice reveals the soul of the rabbi's daughter, Rachel, as she grows up within the repressive Hasadic Jewish community. Her parents count as "sin" everything from reading a romance novel to wearing stockings without seams. Sounding like a classic Jewish mother, Toren renders Rachel's smothering family with sympathy and drama. The book itself occasionally feels as confining as the orthodox lifestyle Rachel is rebelling against as it takes our heroine from her schoolgirl days into an unhappy arranged marriage. But it succeeds in giving outsiders a look inside this secretive sect, whose dress and ways are as mysterious to outsiders as those of Pennsylvania's more famous Amish. M.C. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

JUN/JUL 00 - AudioFile