The Romance Reader

This novel tells of Rachel, a teenager and the oldest child of a Chasidic family in upstate New York. Thwarted by the restrictive culture of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, she pines for more freedom in her life.

Light and easy to read, The Romance Reader peeps into the fascinating culture of Chasidic Judaism. I especially loved reading about how Rachel handled the situation in which she was forced to meet the young man selected by the matchmaker to be her future husband. Though very well written, I felt it ended too abruptly. I wanted to read much more about Rachel's life. I do hope that Ms. Abraham continues to write stories which share this very special culture with the world.

A story of the unheard world of Hassidic Judaism. I knew almost nothing about it before reading this, and I'm still in awe of some of the strange rituals and rules of the religion. The story telling is apt, but the real joy in this novel is the eye-opening world of ultra-conservative Judaisim

It's a coming of age story set in a very particular Chassidic family in a very particular Chassidic sect, modern day, and the narrator is the oldest girl of seven children. Her father is determined to have his own synagogue and congregation, and the family subsists on the sales of a book on the Kabbalah that he writes and sells through travel and through the mail. What Rachel wants is to be free to choose her own life, and she bucks against the rules over and over again, reading English language books, learning to be a life-guard and wear a swim-suit, eat what is forbidden, and so forth.

The story covers her late teenage years, and I was interested to find out how the author handles the obligatory early wedding with minimal courtship. show more SPOILERI think the author got her into and out of a disastrous marriage in rather arbitrary ways, without resolving how she would spend her life afterwards But ultimately, I wasn't interested enough in the details to read more than the first third and last third of the book, skimming the rest. show less

Rachel is the teenaged daughter of a rabbi in a cloistered Hasidic community. She's quite the rebel: she gets a library card, reads romance novels, wears sheer stockings, goes out without a kerchief, and wants to wear a swimsuit while working as a lifeguard (as opposed to an ankle-length dress). This book would have been much less frustrating had the rest of the family been more sympathetic. Everyone was so spiteful and self-centered, ready to sell out their kin in an instant to make themselves look good in front of the neighbors. It was frankly sickening. The ending was moderately uplifting, but by that point I was so tired of the petty bickering that I was just ready for it to be over. It was interesting to learn a little bit about show more Orthodox Jewish customs, such as the various things they cannot do during Shabbat and their wedding rituals, but mostly I wanted to take everyone in this family by the shoulders and give them a good shake.

Note: All comments in this review refer exclusively to the characters and situations in this novel. None of my comments are meant to apply to Hasidic culture or the Jewish community in general. show less

This book has been sitting on my shelf for too long. I started reading it and I liked it a lot.
Partly because it gave more information on orthodox Jewish life and habits, also because I grew very fond of the rebel daughter.

It was a nice and quite easy book to

Narrated by Suzanne Toren. Rachel is the oldest child of a rabbi in a large Hassidic Jewish family. Growing up, she comes to resent the strictness of her family and culture. Rachel has an independent spirit and mind that is regularly dismissed. Well-read, lively, with memorable characters and emotions. Could be a YA read. Lib notes: Scenes of Rachel in sex play with cousin Elke, fantasies of men, Israel trying to make love, but not graphic.

My first foray into the Hassidic Jewish lifestyle. I found it quite fascinating and eye-opening. I thought the characters were well written and I really enjoyed Rachel. She stood up for herself and wanted to live her own life and I applaud that.