Why this book: Selected by my literature reading group after Patsy pushed for us to read it for at least a year. She hasn’t let us down yet with books she’s insisted that we read. This is a gem. I was going back and forth between the printed and the audible version, but ultimately chose to stick with the audible version; the reader Corrie James does a superb job of giving emotion and nuance to the characters. 

Summary in 4 sentences:  In a suburb of London, a history professor nearing the end of her career, is brought in with a graduate student to assess the value of some centuries old papers and letters found hidden in a locked compartment of a stately old mansion.   As they attempt to decipher the enigmatic letters and papers from an obscure rabbi and his household from the 2nd half of the 17th century, we are taken back to the world in which the letters and papers were written, and we get to know that world, and those we wrote the letters and papers.  There are two dramas occurring in The Weight of Ink, and they seem to be conversing with one another across the centuries and throughout the book – one drama taking place in the life of the rabbi’s scribe, a young precocious Jewish woman living in the harsh, bigoted world of restoration England and her challenges to support the rabbi while  struggling to create a role for herself, and to survive. The other drama is at the beginning of the 21st century as the historian and her intern work to understand what the papers might tell them about the lives and thoughts of those who wrote them, but they also struggle with their own personal issues, they struggle to connect with each other, and they struggle with the politics of the university’s history department, as they endeavor to bring the surprising insights they discover to light.  

My Impressions: For me, this was one of those powerful “Wow!” books that I’m fortunate enough to read every now and then.  I started saying “Wow!” about a quarter of the way into the book, and my “wow!” exclamations continued right through to the very last page.  Great writing, fascinating story, some powerful lessons on history and the human heart, three-dimensional and compelling characters – SO much richness in this wonderful book.  It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, because Rachel Kadish builds her characters slowly and deliberately,  and she paints a picture of her settings with detail and sensitivity.  She allows the drama to build slowly, all the way through to its rich and fulfilling conclusion, with many fascinating surprises along the way.  A great read. 

Each chapter begins with a date and a location telling us which part of the conversation we’ll be sitting in on in that chapter.  The papers from the 1600s include the Jewish date – for example November 12, 1657  6 Kislev, 5418 London – to tell you that this chapter is from that world, that period.  Then the next chapter may begin: November 4, 2000 London, and offering up that world, that perspective, that drama.    

There are three main characters in the book, of whom the most important is Ester, who lived in the earlier period.  The other two, who are seeking to understand Ester’s world and the letters she wrote, are Helen Watt, the stiff-upper-lip traditional British History professor,  whose health is failing as her academic career comes to an end, and Aaron Levy, a young American doctoral student floundering with his thesis who was sent to help Helen with evaluating and translating the papers.   Much of the richness of this book is in the relationships between these characters – the strained relationship between Helen and Aaron, and the evolving relationships between both Helen and Aaron and Ester as they conceive her, as they put together the pieces of the puzzle about who she was and unravel the mysteries in what she wrote. 

There are a number of important secondary characters who include the wise, elderly much-respected rabbi, who was blinded in the inquisition in Portugal; Rivka, the Polish Jewish housemaid who served and protected both Ester and the Rabbi;  Mary da Costa Mendes who Ester served as a companion; a couple of Ester’s suitors; Aaron’s girlfriend Marissa; Jonathan Martin, the smarmy chairman of Helen’s history department; and a  few other.   These and other characters play their role in The Weight of Ink, primarily to help us better understand our three primary protagonists. 

And much of the richness of this book is in the detail with which Rachel Kadish paints the world of London in the 1650s and 1660s.  We can feel the harshness of the bigotry toward Jews, as well as the caution and fear the Jews live with in that environment.  We get a sense of the city of London of the time, so different from what we are used to today.  And then came the plague, and the fear that gripped the city will feel familiar to us who are living through the COVID 19 pandemic – but back then, it was much worse, as the death toll was staggering, the city was essentially evacuated and no one understood what the plague was or how it was spread. And then most of the city burned. This section also recalled to me my recent reading of The Plague by Camus – another grim look at what pandemic panic can do to people.

Part of what I enjoyed about this book is how different all three of the main characters are from me. I was fascinated by their thought processes and decisions – all are very reserved in sharing their thoughts and feelings – yes even the cocky young American Aaron, an intellectually precocious young man, is secretly afraid of his own insecurities and lack of courage. Each of these characters, we eventually learn, is burdened by a different version of guilt or sense of regret for something they did, or didn’t do, or should have done – and this regret is a barrier to fully enjoying the good fortune they have. And each struggles in their own way to come to terms with it.

We see the ugliness of bigotry and prejudice, very much in the news in America today, expressed openly and much more viciously in 17th century Europe.  We learn of the horrors of the inquisition from the rabbi who barely survived it; we see how the Jews are treated in Portugal, Amsterdam and London by hateful Christians, and we see how the Sephardic Jews of Western Europe looked down their noses at Jews from Eastern Europe.  And we learn a lot about the restrictions women of that time faced – especially Jewish women, who were essentially either household workers or were the wards of their husband or a wealthy family.  There weren’t many other options available. Gifted and intelligent, Ester was told to marry, or else.  Or else what?  Rely on charity, or become a house servant,  or starve, or be forced into other unthinkable work to survive?

I realize also, that another thing that drew me to this book is that I so much enjoy the company of intelligent, thoughtful, independent, Stoic women, getting inside their heads and learning from how they think and perceive the world. Both Helen and Ester were these kind of women.   I really liked and  admired them, and enjoyed getting to know them.  The moment I realized the book had reached its conclusion,  I missed them.   Every day for nearly three weeks, I had really looked forward to spending time with them. 

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed and will not soon forget this book.  I will look for another Rachel Kadish novel to read in the near future.