Water from the Well: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah

As with Roiphe's well-received novels and nonfiction about women's lives, this creative examination of four biblical matriarchs ably reflects her continuing emphasis on the relationships between women and their children. Roiphe embroiders the terse accounts of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah in Genesis by using her own imagination and by drawing on prayer books, Talmud, midrash, the Zohar and several collections of legends. The result is a colorful, character-driven portrayal of the women, emphasizing their experiences with their husbands and their children. In each instance, Roiphe follows the biblical practice of depicting highly regarded ancestors with all their foibles and limitations. In Rebekah's deception in conspiring with favored son Jacob over his brother Esau, or Sarah's bitterness and mistreatment of Hagar, Roiphe identifies deep weaknesses and character flaws, but also offers inventive justifications for morally questionable behavior. In Rachel's long wait before becoming pregnant, Roiphe traces echoes of what happened earlier to Sarah and Rebekah. These women all experienced barrenness, neglect, death in childbirth and joy from children as "the staples of female life." Roiphe hopes that the stories she so beautifully retells can inspire us "to be decent people... [and to] better the world." (Sept. 19)