Welcome to virtual book club for October! This month, we’re going with The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. One of the reasons I love historical novels is that they allow us to live history as the characters show us their world.

The Weight of Ink is the story of Ester, a Jewish woman in 1660s London, who has a sharp mind and a thirst for knowledge, but isn’t allowed to study because she’s a woman. She scribes for a blind rabbi, which is not allowed for a woman. When he stops teaching her and suggests she marry, Ester starts an elaborate deception and betrays the rabbi she loves as a father. Flash forward to modern times when an ailing history professor finds a trove of Esters letters and begins to piece them together to learn about the scribe who wrote them. It’s a complex story that spans modern day London, Israel in the 1960s and London in the 1660 as the great plague breaks out. It’s long, but beautifully written and reads almost as a mystery with enough twists and turns to keep it clipping along.

Book Club: The Weight of Ink (by Rachel Kadish)

On to the discussion…

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you didn’t read the book yet…

I ended up loving this book, but I didn’t start out loving it. I’m usually reading multiple books at a time and I don’t know if it was because of that or because I read late at night, but it took me a little while for this book to grab me. I almost gave up on it, but then Ester hooked me. Once she did, I couldn’t put it down.  I love a good story of a woman taking what society tells her she can’t have. This isn’t a story of a woman trying to land a husband or raise babies. Instead, Ester fights for her truth and the life she wants – the life of a scholar.

Weight of Ink is beautifully written. It speaks to the Rachel Kadish’s skill as a writer that her novel, which is largely correspondence between rabbis, Ester’s philosophical debates, and the details of academic research, is so readable and accessible. There were several times that I stopped reading to admire her beautiful words. There are many twists and turns and I kept reading, often way past my bedtime, because I wanted to find out what happened to Ester, Mary and Helen.

Questions:

There is a lot going on here and so many threads to pull. I’m just going to throw out a couple. Please comment and let me know what you thought of the book and what stood out to you.

Characters:

There are really 3 people’s stories here: Ester’s, Helen’s and Aaron’s. Which one were you most invested in? I loved Ester and Helen even though neither seemed very likable. Did you think they were likable characters?

For me, I wasn’t as invested in Aaron’s story. I do think he matured by the end, but I wasn’t really invested in him enough to really care if he got the girl or not. What did you think of him?

Love:

“The air between them was alive. She could feel him through it.” (part 2, location 2565 in the digital copy).

I love that line so much and wish I would have written that. It’s so simple, but universal.  Love is definitely a recurring theme here – romantic love, love of knowledge, the love between parent and child, religious love.  In nearly every case, love is tied to sacrifice. For her love of knowledge, Ester sacrifices her relationship with the rabbi and her future. She essentially gives up John because she doesn’t want marriage to interfere with her studies.  For Helen, love set her on her lifelong academic journey. Love for Mary started as a rebellion, but turned into a train wreck. She sacrificed her relationship with her father and her future for Thomas. Do you think Thomas loved her?  What do you think love meant for Aaron? What did he love?

Friendship 

I felt like Mary and Ester were two sides of the same coin – like Mary is what Ester would have become if her parents would have lived. What did you think of Mary? I will admit, there was a part of me that wanted it to end with Mary, Ester and Rivka living together and raising Mary’s child, but alas, it was not to be…

Lies

I thought it was really interesting how easily Ester lies. Sure, she feel guilty, but she’s pretty good at lying. She creates a male persona and lies to the philosophers she corresponds with. She lies to the rabbi constantly. There is part of me that wants to high five her for  being brave enough to stay true to what she wants out of life. yet, there’s another part that’s a bit judgy. I wonder if she would have been as brave asking those heretical questions under her own name. After all, she could have just used her first initial and last name and not mentioned her gender.

In her time, those philosophers wouldn’t have given her the time of day if they had known she was a woman, but they risked much by putting their views on paper. She really didn’t take a risk since she was hiding behind her fictional persona. So, she didn’t seem to have skin in the game. Agree? Disagree? Did you have any issues with her deceptions? Did you think she was brave?

A few random thoughts…

• I love all the history here. I learned a lot about a period in history and a group of people that I didn’t really know anything about. That’s one of the reasons why I love historical novels.
• The bodies in the pit piled up during the plague. OMG. Thank you for modern sanitization.
• How did they get Alvaro off the ship so fast?
• The Patricias. Love them.
• Bescos. I was really hoping he would meet some horrible end.
• The twist at the end with Constantina’s parentage. That was a bit much for me. What did you think?

Comment below and let me know what you thought of Weight of Ink.

Want more? Check out last month’s book club selection.