Seven Blessings : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: a highly original wise and true book of jewish fiction
Review: Beyond a fascinating story line, Ms. King, in her first novel, has acheived something remarkable in her contribution to a growing number of works set in the Orthodox Jewish world: she has avoided the dual pitfalls of watering down either her artistic vision or her Jewish soul. In this engrossing and remarkable book, Ms. King remains true to the spirit of the novel. She has created characters who live, look at themselves, and attempt to love on terms both unfettered by yet inevitably cast in the religious categories within which they find themselves. Her lessons on love and piety inform one another, and ultimately teach, in warm, funny and profound ways, that the same spirit - the human spirit - must live for either of endeavor to truly succeed. The story lines develop and unfold like a Jerusalem day - where seeking and circumstance lead in unexpected directions. Highly enjoyable!

Rating:
Summary: Set in Jerusalem as a stand-in for Heaven
Review: This is a beautifully evocative tale of the age old search for love. As much about the love between friends and the passionate connection between people and G-d as it is about dating and marriage, SEVEN BLESSINGS chronicles the romantic adventures of several Americans living abroad in the holy city.

My favorite character was the aging spinster who seems to have a crush on a dying sage and who uses a grocery store clerk as an intermediary to pique the rabbi's interest. The author, Ruchama King, handles that story line with wit and delicacy and, for me, it played out as a marvelous bit of suspense writing!

I well understand why Library Journal compared King's writing to that of Jane Austen. Her characters come to fascinating life and they remain with the reader long afterward. SEVEN BLESSINGS has much in common with EMMA, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PERSUASION and of course with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

If you relish the experience of visting another world when you read a book, a great treat awaits you inside the pages of SEVEN BLESSINGS. King offers up Jerusalem and I think more than a little bit of Heaven in this book. I can't wait for her next!

Rating:
Summary: Faith in love and faith in God
Review: This is a beautifully written story set in Jerusalem about men and women searching for love and companionship, and about the lives of the matchmakers who try to help them. In this book we are introduced to Beth, Akiva and Binyamin. All are expatriates living in Jerusalem and all are longing to make a shidduch, a match. Tsippi Krauthammer, who runs a local grocery store, and Judy Bartosky, a homemaker and wife of a former rabbi, are the matchmakers who try to help them while at the same time coping with challenges and struggles in their own lives.

I am not Jewish but have always held a deep regard for the way Judaism is not just a religion but an entire way of life. Before reading this novel I did not realize how many Jewish people travel to visit and live in Israel because for them it is like coming home. I was so impressed with this book not only because of the lovely story but also because the characters are so dedicated in their belief and their efforts to learn more about Judaism while also dealing with the constraints it places upon them as they search for love. A beautiful, beautiful book!