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The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan in Books

Oct 6, 2020

Okay, so I didn't actually finish reading this book. You see, I really wanted to like this book, because I think that Gillian is a talented writer. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading this book. On the plus side, the contemporary parts of this book were very interesting, if not compelling. Aisling's slow discovery of the Jewish world, while fighting the urge to get more committed to it was very nicely done. However, the historical parts put me off most of the time. I didn't understand the characters - either their language, or their motivations. I realize that had I finished this book, some of these questions might have been answered, but I just couldn't get past the fact that I found myself wanting to skip over large chunks of the narrative.

I think the problem was that Gillian's inexperience made her try a bit too hard to impress the Jewish and Irish aspects of this book. I've read quite a few books by Irish authors, and I've never felt like I was overwhelmed with jargon and slang, some of which I didn't understand. Unfortunately, these interjections came far too often, and they were jarring, to say the least. Certainly, her editor should have realized this, and toned it down - unless that person too was worried that the book wouldn't sound either Jewish or Irish enough for the American public.

For me, the heavy use of Irish and Yiddish slang words feels pretentious. More importantly, if your story doesn't sound Irish or Jewish enough so that you have to throw these in at every turn, then maybe you've not chosen the right subject matter.

I might have continued on, doing my best to ignore this, but the final death knell for me came when she broke my #1 cardinal rule of writing Jewish characters - a glaring mistake on a simple point of Judaism. I am willing to forgive a whole lot, but when someone describes a strict Jewish household having lamb with a side dish of potatoes, dripping with butter in the same meal (i.e., she mixed milk and meat, and it is the most basic of all things that Jewish dietary laws forbid), that's a bridge too far. No one who goes to the amount of trouble she describes in this book to get their house Kosher and ready for Passover, would ever in their right mind put butter on potatoes for a meat meal.

If any of this can be fixed before publication, I would be thrilled to read a new version of this book.