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Overview
In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah's arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris—and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God and suppresses her desires in order to become an obedient "Jerusalem maiden."
But when a surprising opportunity forces itself on to her preordained path, Esther finds her beliefs clashing dangerously with the passions she has staved off her entire life—forcing her to confront the most difficult and damning question of all: To whom must she be true, God or herself?
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Carner's engaging new novel opens in 1911 in an impoverished Jerusalem, home for many generations to the Kaminsky family, strictly observant Haredi Jews. Men study Torah; women bear children and keep house. On the verge of adulthood, Esther Kaminsky faces a dilemma: pursue art (she has talent) or do what is expected of her? She fantasizes about a full life, where she could marry and make art, but after her mother dies, her father forces her into marrying a "modern Jew" from Jaffa, exiling Esther from the Jerusalem she loves. Forward to 1924 when, after a series of implausible events, Esther ends up alone in Paris, a city the author idealizes to an unrealistic degree. Carner (China Doll), formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine, renders Esther's world with great authority and detail, revealing intimate familial rituals within the larger political and socioeconomic context. But what begins as an earnest story of an introspective girl struggling to interpret God's will resolves disappointingly. The setting, concerns, and frequent Hebrew vocabulary will make this particularly appealing to Jewish readers. (June)Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A fascinating look at a little-known culture and time . . . Tuck JERUSALEM MAIDEN in your beach bag."Jewish Book World
"Talia Carner uses beautiful language, exquisite storytelling, and detailed research to transport the reader into the world of old Jerusalem . . . This is a book to savor and discuss."Binnie Kirshenbaum
"JERUSALEM MAIDEN is a page-turning and thought-provoking novel. Extraordinary sensory detail vividly conjures another time and place; heroine Esther Kaminsky’s poignant struggle transcends time and place. The ultimate revelation here: for many women, if not most, 2011 is no different than 1911, but triumph is nonetheless possible."Jennifer Lauck
"Talia Carner is a skillful and heartfelt storyteller who takes the reader on journey of the senses, into a world long forgotten. Her story of a woman who struggles and seeks the light is universal and inspiring. Read this book and savor."Eva Etzioni-Halevy
"JERUSALEM MAIDEN won me over from the first moment I began reading it...meticulously researched, and steeped in thorough knowledge, no less than deep understanding, of both this community and of the world of art in Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century... I could not put it down."Phyllis Chesler
"JERUSALEM MAIDEN is a novel but the reader feels that she has entered living, lost history. Once engaged, you cannot put this book down . . . [H]eartbreakingly real."Michelle Cameron
"[A]n exquisitely explosive journey . . . [JERUSALEM MAIDEN] immerses us in a provocative and astonishingly realized world filled with evil spirits, arranged marriages, prayer, poverty, and the pain of breaking free."Tess Gerritsen
"Exquisitely told...a moving and utterly captivating novel that I will be thinking about for a long, long time."Margot Livesey
"Esther Kaminsky is a true heroine . . . The truly marvellous thing about JERUSALEM MAIDEN is how deeply Talia Carner is able to evoke Esther’s faith and the complexity of the choices she faces. A beautiful and timely novel."Jacquelyn Mitchard
"As bold and fragile as its main character, JERUSALEM MAIDEN is at heart a story of revolution. . . Captivates at every level, heart and mind."Maggie Anton
"Compelling ... vividly examines the grinding poverty and oppressive religious domination the heroine suffers in pre-World War I Mea Shearim, and then compares it with the seductive nonconformity she enjoys in the Parisian art world ten years later."Vanitha Sankaran
"[A] fascinating story of how a talented, artistic woman from a conservative faith must balance the responsibilities of her heritage against her passions for love and art ... [JERUSALEM MAIDEN] brings an elusive time and place to life and makes you question the strengths of your own beliefs."Hassadah Magazine
"A tale spun by a natural storyteller...what is striking is the timelessness and dreamlike quality of her worlds. We are drawn into the saga of Esther kaminsky, the Jerusalem maiden, and stay under her story’s spell until the ambiguously happy end."Kirkus Reviews
A young woman struggles against strict Orthodox traditions to realize her inner artist.
Esther Kaminsky, a fictional character based on Carner's grandmother, grows up in aHaredi(Ultra-Orthodox Jewish) compound in Jerusalem during the waning days of Ottoman rule. In part because of the exhortation to be fruitful and multiply, and in part because the men are left mostly free to study Torah, women's work in this crowded enclave is never done. Esther will be married off as soon as her menses begin (an event she postpones by secretly eating special herbs). Mademoiselle Thibaux, a teacher at a local girls' school, encourages Esther to develop her remarkable talent as a painter. However, Esther renounces her artistic yearnings after her mother dies of consumption—obviously a sign from Hashem (God) that Esther offended Him, not only by creating graven images but by stepping outside her circumscribed gender role. When her beloved father condemns her outspokenness, and her best friend, forced into marriage to a brutal man, kills herself, Esther plots to escape. Her musically gifted cousin Asher, also harboring forbidden artistic ambitions, wants her to marry him, so they can flee to Paris and pursue their callings. She agrees but is tricked intowedding Nathan, a wealthy Jaffa merchant. The story jumps ahead 10 years to 1924. Esther, mother of three, is the relatively content wife of Nathan, who is attractive and kind, if a bit stiff. Nonetheless, she still bridles at the restrictions on her life, exacerbated by meddling sisters-in-law. When Esther's disgraced and divorced sister Hanna arrives to help with the children, and Nathan departs on an extended business trip, Esther seizes the opportunity to go to Paris. Will Esther manage to free herself of the prohibitions which she has internalized and achieve artistic expression and true love?Readers will fervently hope so.
A welcome glimpse into a little-understood world.