Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan

This book made me ache. It's a glimpse into the Jewish community of Ireland throughout the twentieth century, told through three different characters in different times. Ruth is a Lithuanian immigrant at the turn of the century, accidentally calling Cork, rather than New York, her home. Shem is a mid-century teenager who has lost his voice and is locked away in one of Ireland's multitude of homes for the mentally ill. And finally, Aisling, a twenty-first century London resident dating a Jewish man who eventually tells her he can't imagine marrying a gentile woman. Gradually, their stories are woven together, an intricate tapestry weaving the past, present, and future of Irish Jews into a single narrative. This book was deeply moving and show more I highly recommend it.

Definite trigger warning for antisemtism, antisemetic slurs, ableism, and Ireland's frankly horrifying mental health institutions in the 20th century. Shem's story line bears the brunt of these problems; a mute Jewish boy in a Catholic institution that still views mental illness as bedevilment is never going to be a pleasant reading experience. show less

This was an interesting merger of three intertwining stories about Jewish characters who live in Ireland. In the first, a young girl believes her family is emigrating to America, but they end up in Ireland. The second is about a teenager who has been committed to an asylum because he has suddenly become mute. We find out later what happened to cause this, but it's a family secret that he refuses to reveal to the doctors and therapists. In the third story, a young Irish journalist has decided to convert to Judaism so that she can marry her boyfriend. All of them face challenges in confronting the expectations of family, religion, and Irish society. I found the book interesting but kept thinking about Roddy Doyle's wonderful collection of show more stories about immigrants to Ireland, [The Deportees and Other Stories], which was a 5-star read for me. show less

Three stories that tell of a century of Jewish experiences in Ireland from different viewpoints. One a woman from Ireland whose boyfriend would like her to convert; the other a girl whose family accidently end up in Cork rather than New York and the last a Jewish man whose selective mutism has kept him in a mental institution for decades because of something he can't tell anyone. There is also a story of love and life and it's an interesting set of stories, that interweave in ways I wasn't expecting.
It took me a while to get into it and I'm not fond of the chapters cycling between eras way of telling a story but by the end I was very curious about it all.

The American debut for Irish author and academic Ruth Gilligan. An interesting read, each chapter, written like a short story, intertwines to illuminate a relatively unknown bit of Irish-Jewish history. I didn't find it cohesive enough, my first impulse on finishing was to reread in light of the conclusions of the various streams. Lovely language, but too many bizarre lives for her characters.

The writing is very clever. There are five parts to the book, each with the English translation of the Jewish names of the first five books of the Bible: In the beginning, Names, And he called, In the Desert, and Words.

The connections among the three stories are gradually revealed; one link is only shown at the end. Going back to read the very beginning is useful. But two of the stories are frustratingly sad: If only Shem had talked to his rabbi or his mother about his problem; if only Ruth had introduced herself; if only . . . . If only I felt more sympathy for or closer to the characters.

At the turn of the century, when Ruth was eight, her mother, father and older sister emigrated from Lithuania, heading for America and hope of am better life. After a sea journey of many days they arrive, knowing little English, they think they hear the crew yelling New York, but alas they are saying Cork, and instead of America they have arrived in Ireland. In the fifties a young man is institutionalized after he quit speaking at his Bar Mitzvah, and present day a woman's Jewish boyfriend asks her to convert. So three different threads, an though within two long we can see where the second story of the young man intersects with the story of Ruth, for the longest time I couldn't see where the third story did, or why it was even show more necessary. Brilliant though, when it is revealed, and in fact is rather startling and sad.

The Jewish settlements in Ireland, which I freely admit to knowing nothing about, most making a life in a place where they hadn't intended to be, many wanting to leave but for the present stuck. Ruth though, and I loved her strength and determination, makes the most of what is given her, wanting to make this place her home. We learn a little of the struggles of these early Jews, the discrimination they faced while trying to hold on to their own identity and a little Irish history as well. Her story was by far my favorite, but the young Jewish man in the institution and the legless man who is his roommate, whose story he writes down, was well done as well.

Taken in totality this was an amazing book, told in a clear and concise voice, it leaves an impression. I very much enjoyed this novel and learned some history as well. So glad I decided to try this one and another author to watch for, see what she does next.

ARC from Netgalley. show less

I wish the book had been more focused on the similarities between Irish and Jewish storytelling as the conversion storylines never really rang true to this reader and son of Irish Jews. Told in three time frames that never quite cohere to make a whole book, there was still much to like here.