Review by Booklist Review
In this marvelous and beguiling story, translator Harshav has captured in English some of the rich concreteness and minor-key rhythms of the original Hebrew. We listen to the voice of Zayde as he tells the story of his mother, Judith, who was loved by three Israeli men--Moshe, Sheinfeld, and Globerman--but would never reveal which one fathered her son. The three men all love Judith, and each treats Zayde like the son he is to one of them. Zayde spins the story of his mother's life and his own from early in the century to her death in 1950, and with it a web that will hold readers in every word. Descriptions of simple, earthy food make the mouth yearn for olives and bread and cheese, while magical images transfix the imagination: Moshe taking a shower outdoors "like a bear on a rock in the river." All kinds of love pour down the pages like honey: Moshe's daughter Naomi's for Judith, who was neither mother nor sister; an Italian POW's for Sheinfeld, whom he taught to cook and dance; Judith's undying love for the daughter who was taken from her. Full of light and color, the tale unfolds like a flower with a captivating scent. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"A mensh trakht un Gott lakht." This Yiddish expression meaning "man plans and God laughs" appears more than once in Shalev's appealing third novel (after Esau), in which mythic storytelling lucidly elaborates on the workings of love and fate. Zayde, the narrator, grows up in Israel's Jezreel Valley in the 1940s and '50s, confused but protected by a name that signifies "grandfather." His mother, Judith, reasons that if "the Angel of Death comes and sees a little boy named Zayde (Grandfather), he understands right away that there's a mistake here and he goes to someplace else." But while Judith's attempt to trick Fate saves the life of her illegitimate son many times, it helps lead to her own demise. Her story, and those of the three men who love her, each claiming Zayde as his son, are revealed during four ornate meals prepared for Zayde by one of his "fathers," Jacob Sheinfeld. Twelve-year-old Zayde first visits Jacob almost two years after his mother's death. He returns three times over the next 29 years to let his memories intertwine with Jacob's. The tales of those who have loved Judith are epic. Oxlike Moshe Rabinovitch, briefly married to Judith after the death of his wife, still searches for his blonde braid cut off at adolescence and hidden by his mother. Sheinfeld is taught to dance, cook and sew in preparation for a wedding Fate cannot destroy (but does). Only Globerman, Zayde's third "father," a shrewd cattle dealer, is earthbound, but the unique legacies all three fathers leave their shared son seal the unwieldy family's destiny. Told in a euphonic voice and employing the magic conventions of a fairytale, this is a heartwarming narrative agleam with moments of plangent sadness, rueful humor and compassionate insight. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Shalev is a gifted Israeli author of books for children and adults (My Father Always Embarrasses Me, Wellington, 1991). In this mesmerizing novel, a man whose names means grandfather (Zayde) in Hebrew shares the stories of the three men who are his father. Jacob Sheinfeld is a farmer who forsakes his beautiful wife, Rebecca, to raise canaries and pursue Judith. Moshe Rabinovitch is a widowed farmer who is obsessed with his dead wife, his lost childhood braid, and Judith. A cattle dealer, Globerman, whom everyone loves and hates at the same time, is also in love with Judith. The relationships among these three men, Judith, son Zayde, and their fellow villagers and the animals they tend are magical, mythical, and wonderful. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries.Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Shalev's third English translation (Esau, 1994) is set in post-WWII Palestine. Here, the author's usual village legend-spinning turns out to be half stuffing and half roast goose. Illegitimate young Zayde Rabinovitch has three alleged fathers'and each contributes something or other to the boy's physical appearance. Widower Moshe Rabinovitch, who was reared by his mother as a yellow-haired girl until he was 12 and nature could no longer be denied, provided Zayde with those blond tresses (and later with a farm); Jacob Sheinfeld, who once raised canaries'and who was abandoned by his beautiful wife Rebecca because of his infatuated pursuit of Zayde's single mother, Judith'gave him droopy shoulders, a fine house richly furnished, and empty birdcages; and cattle-dealer Globerman, as coarse and sensual as Fyodor Karamazov, bestowed upon him huge feet and plenty of money. Zayde, who suffers under his name partly because it means ``grandfather,'' is born to Judith in her 11th year of living alone, her ex-soldier husband having deserted her and fled to America. Each of Zayde's three would-be male progenitors declares himself to be the child's actual father. The high point arrives with the appearance of an Italian ghost whose wondrous ability to imitate human forms, voices, and actions seems to be leading to a fulfilling end (which may reveal Zayde's physical parentage) until a blow from the gods robs us of any resolution'any emerging from character, that is. The story, as retold to or by Zayde during the course of four meals from the hand of Jacob over three decades, gasps with incidental lore and pithy sayings, which may or may not fit the plot but which prick dash hopes that Shalev will ever come to grips with his tale. Even so, the village mythologizing and the proverbs (``He couldn't say the names of wine, but his frying pan laughed and his knife danced in his hand') will warm the hearts of many.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
