BookLife Review: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Jewish history, women's history, scribes, rabbinical history, 17th Century, Amsterdam, London, Inquisition, rare manuscripts, original sources.

This is a meaty #historicalfiction read. It's a hefty but worthwhile book. Author Rachel Kadish @rachelskadish clearly spent YEARS painstakingly researching multiple fields. The novel is chock full of history to which I'd never been exposed before. Learned oodles about #17thCentury #Amsterdam and #London Jewish communities, their and #rabbi’s writings, 17th Century philosophy, the Inquisition's impact on Jewish people, about women's struggles to access education, about how academic #historians conduct original research from primary sources as well as how #raremanuscripts are preserved and restored by dedicated librarians. A whole new world for me. The novel, as a story, ultimately pays off. It takes patience. I struggled to identify with any of the modern day characters at first. And the philosophical debates which are the subject of the discovered documents are dense. The orphaned female scribe hidden from the 17th century world in which she lived (because women were not permitted education) was sympathetic. This book is an undertaking that delivers, but be forewarned this read will challenge you!