cover image Jerusalem Maiden

Jerusalem Maiden

Talia Carner. Harper, $14.99 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-200437-6

Carner's engaging new novel opens in 1911 in an impoverished Jerusalem, home for many generations to the Kaminsky family, strictly observant Haredi Jews. Men study Torah; women bear children and keep house. On the verge of adulthood, Esther Kaminsky faces a dilemma: pursue art (she has talent) or do what is expected of her? She fantasizes about a full life, where she could marry and make art, but after her mother dies, her father forces her into marrying a "modern Jew" from Jaffa, exiling Esther from the Jerusalem she loves. Forward to 1924 when, after a series of implausible events, Esther ends up alone in Paris, a city the author idealizes to an unrealistic degree. Carner (China Doll), formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine, renders Esther's world with great authority and detail, revealing intimate familial rituals within the larger political and socioeconomic context. But what begins as an earnest story of an introspective girl struggling to interpret God's will resolves disappointingly. The setting, concerns, and frequent Hebrew vocabulary will make this particularly appealing to Jewish readers. (June)