The Romance Reader

by Pearl Abraham

Pearl Abraham--who grew up in a Hasidic community herself--presents the story of Rachel, a girl caught between the strictly controlled world of ultra Orthodox Judaism and the seductive yearnings of her own heart. Both a coming-of-age story and a brave, beautifully rendered expose of a hidden, insular world . . . heartrending.--Elle.

Genres: Fiction, Jewish, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Book Club, Judaism, Religion

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Pearl Abraham is the author of the novels The Romance Reader and Giving Up America, and the editor of the Dutch anthology Een Sterke Vrouw: Jewish Heroines in Literature. Her work has appeared in Brooklyn Noir, The Michigan Quarterly, Religion in America, Dog Culture: Writers on the Character of Canines, and Forward.

Reviews

[MaryannC Victorian Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I have read it about 3 times now and I will go back again. This is a wonderful story of a young Hasidic girl who is strongly encouraged to marry and follow the customs of her faith but she longs to experience life on the outside of what her family and community expects of her.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe there is something wrong with me. Maybe I need to stop telling my students how to write well. Because for the life of me I do not understand how people thought this book was "so well written." It was???
Was it the contrived and not at all believable dialog? Was it the very unlikable characters, from over the top melodramatic threatening suicide in front of the kids with a kitchen knife matriarch to incredibly juvenile protagonist? Was it the jumping from thought to thought without any actual connection? Was it the constant whining? What???
This novel had some interesting points, albeit poorly executed (in my opinion, at least) - it portrays an eldest daughter in a chasidishe family (and though this is the author's background a lot of things rang false to me) who loves romance novels and therefore finds it all the more unbearable to function in her ascetic life. So I get that, but the novel didn't really explore that, or at least not in a subtle way - everything in this book was shot at me directly, there was little if anything left to the imagination (ie, 'but I wanted my life to be like a novel' etc ... ohhh now I get it) - and in the meantime the bulk of the novel consisted of kids plotting, at times ridiculously, to get away with all sorts of antics from their micro managing and rather obnoxious mother. There was little if any sympathy to be had for any of the characters, and there was no sense of pacing or time in this work, people just sort of turn around and age. The ending is rather abrupt after dragging along for pages about all sorts of mundane incidents. I just found myself thinking, So??? So what??? Stop whining about wanting a library card and wishing your parents would die in a plane crash you big baby. It just seemed that the lack of sophistication on the part of the protagonist was a little too deeply felt in the writing. I think some more dimension would have worked here. A rather painful read, or a mindless one, depending on the page.

[Muh-ching Yee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want the woman's view of life in an Ultra-Orthodox community, kind of like the view from the sisters of the rebbe, you should read this book. It's familiar in so many ways to the stifling Confucian limits on Chinese women, and its description of a girl trying to get away from her loving family, who want the best but within their limited view of life is universal.

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deutscher Titel: Die Romanleserin

Sprecherin: Suzanne Toren

Dauer: 9 h 12 min, ungekürzt

Rachel Benjamin wäre gerne ein ganz normaler Teenager. Doch als älteste Tochter eines chassidischen New Yorker Rabbis bleibt ihr vieles verwehrt. Unter anderem muss sie englischsprachige Literatur heimlich lesen, welch ein Skandal wäre es, wenn die Tochter eines Rabbis englische Bücher lesen würde!

Der Buchtitel ist ein wenig irreführend, Bücher und die Welt in Büchern, die Rachel verwehrt bleiben, spielen zwar eine wichtig Rolle, sind jedoch nur ein Aspekt, der Rachels Leben anders macht als das eines “normalen” amerikanischen Teenagers. Ihre Kleider müssen die Ellenbogen bedecken, sie muss dicke, undurchsichtige Strumpfhosen unter den Kleidern tragen, sie darf – um Himmels willen – beim Schwimmen keinen Badeanzug tragen. Und wenn sie mit 16 die Schule abschließt, wird von ihr erwartet, dass sie sich möglichst bald verheiraten lässt.

Die erste Hälfte des Buchs hat mir wirklich sehr gut gefallen. Der Einblick in die chassidische Kultur ist sehr interessant, die Charaktere, unter anderem die aufbrausende Mutter und der stoische Vater bringen den Leser häufig zum Schmunzeln. Rachel ist hin- und hergerissen zwischen ihrer Familie und ihrem Wunsch, den Restriktionen ihrer Herkunft und ihrer Kultur zu entkommen. Sie malt sich alles Mögliche aus, das passieren könnte, doch letztlich findet sie nicht den Mut, wirklich offen zu rebellieren, sie tut es nur heimlich. Was natürlich nicht immer gut geht. Als es Zeit für die Ehe wird, sieht Rachel nur einen Weg, der ihr ein normales Leben ermöglichen könnte…

Und dieser letzte Teil des Romans hat dazu geführt, dass ich das Buch doch nicht so gut bewerten kann. Denn hier habe ich den Kontakt zu Rachel verloren: Ich konnte ihr Handeln nachvollziehen, aber es gefiel mir nicht, sie wurde mir unsympathisch und das Ende des Buchs habe ich dann als unbefriedigend empfunden. Dennoch ein lesenswertes Buch, vor allem, wenn man sich für das Leben orthodoxer Juden in Amerika interessiert.

Die Sprecherin Suzanne Toren liest genau im richtigen Tempo, mit viel Ausdruck und ironischem Unterton.

[melydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 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.

[The Bursting Bookshelf of a Wallflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars!

I am regularly revisiting some of my childhood and teenage books and I remember that I never managed to finish this book when I was younger. I was happy to give Rachel and her story of growing up in an orthodox Jewish family another change. It has been interesting to read, but the book title has been a little misreading - reading isn't playing as big a role as expected.

[Kalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot--more than I ended up liking Unorthodox. Curiously, they're very similar, though Romance Reader was written nearly 15 years ago. This one is better written, and ultimately, more believable--though it is fiction and Unorthodox is non-fiction.

There's a part of me that can help but wonder if Feldman didn't borrow liberally from Abraham's book, though it is also possible that there are certain commonalities and realities that make the two stories so similar. I'm guessing I'll never know.

[Penni · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Its not the kerchief or a radio or any one thing I want. They're things i want to have and forget about, things not worth fighting for. I don't want to fight for anything. I want to just be and do, with no one saying they're letting me."

I'm surprised this book doesn't have more exposure in the hasidic/ ex hasidic circle.

This is a beautifully written, painful and worthy read.

[mia mathilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich hatte die ganze Zeit das Gefühl, dass der Roman schlecht übersetzt ist... Meine Ausgabe ist auch relativ alt, but still:/ Die Geschichte und die Charaktere hatten Potential, welches aber nicht ausgeschöpft wurde. Viel rumgeplänkel:/ Trotzdem wurde gegen Ende der innere Kampf von Rachel immer deutlicher und irgendwie auch gesellschaftlich relevant... von wegen patriarchale Strukturen in streng orthodoxen Rabbinerfamilien! Hat mich all in all nicht umgehauen.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick overview: This is a story about Rachel, a teenage girl growing up in a Hasidic Jewish community in New York. She's struggling with what she wants to do and what her faith and her parents will let her do. She secretly reads goyish (non-Jewish) books, and dreams of having a life doing more than her mother who has seven kids. The author takes you through her inner turmoil with what she wants to do, what she's allowed to do, and what she thinks is expected of her.

I actually don't like the title of this book. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover, but the title gives you the impression it's a romance novel and it's not that at all. Rachel is quite the rebel - I immediately like her. Her father only wants her to read Jewish books, so she sneaks getting a library card, and sometimes even steals books from stores and other people's homes in order to read "normal" books, most of which are romance novels. That's the only part of romance that really comes into play.

The book is broken up into three parts - I liked all of them, but once I got to the second part I thought it was a lot easier to read and flowed better. However, for as much as Rachel rebelled, I felt like the end of the book was building to a really big rebellion and in a way it did (I don't want to give anything away), but then the story ended. I was hoping to see more of her life after she makes a few decisions, and what exactly she was planning to do, but the story just stopped. I guess the point is that she made some decisions for her. However, for as long as it took for the story to pick up momentum, I thought the ending was almost a letdown.

I did like the story - and the author grew up in a Hasidic community so there were definitely times during this story when I was wondering if this was loosely based on her life. Overall I would recommend this to read, but know it takes awhile to get into it.

[Qendxi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 Sterne. Durchschnitt. Es war interessant Einblicke in das Leben eines Mädchens zu bekommen, welches in der chassidischen Gemeinde New Yorks in den 1970ern aufwächst. Der Alltag wurde ausführlich beschrieben und ebenso ihre Gefühle und Gedanken. Ich konnte, gut nachvollziehen, dass sie immer so im Zwiespalt war zwischen Familie/Gemeinde und Individualität/Freiheit, da es auch gut rübergebracht wurde. Ich finde es toll, dass die Protagonistin ihren eigenen Weg gegangen ist, auch wenn von ihr ein lautloses Einfügen in diese Gesellschaft erwartet wurde. Starke Frauen finde ich toll!

Es scheint mir nicht ganz passend dies zu vergleichen, „Unorthodox“ von Deborah Feldman fand ich jedoch besser - wegen der rübergebrachten Nähe zur Protagonistin und des Schreibstils. Der Schreibstil in diesem Buch war leider nichts besonderes, vielleicht liegt dies aber auch an der Übersetzung.
Alles in allem - nicht schlecht.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a bit disappointed by this novel. The title seemed to promise more, and I was hoping for more of a connection between the protagonist, Rachel, and her romance novels. No such luck. Aside from the romance novel, the teenage Rachel seemed quite whiny, argumentative, and immature for her age (15 in the middle of the story). For a girl that knew marriage was probable at a young age (17/18) she had a lot of growing-up to do. The progression in the story (including the final event) was unbelievable and seemed to jumble up many thoughts and emotions at once (I had to re-read passages twice to make sure I hadn't missed anything).

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good:
~ As always, it was interesting to learn about other cultures
~ I enjoyed Rachel's rebelliousness and Leah's level-headedness
~ It was a good portrayal of teenage frustration

The not-so-good:
~ I occasionally found myself wishing I had a Yiddish dictionary so I knew exactly what the author was talking about
~ I was not always aware of the passing of time and was sometimes surprised to learn that years had gone by (i.e. suddenly baby Esther is 5 years old)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book after my daughter asked for recommendations from a list of books that the 9th grade English teachers put together for summer reading. As an avid reader this kind of list is pure gold. I had read several books on the list, but after reading a quick synopsis of, "The Romance Reader," I knew it was the first one that I wanted to check out.

I read, "My Name is Asher Lev," by Chaim Potok a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I thought this might be the female equivalent of a coming of age story for a Hasidic Jew. Some of the tensions of being a very religious family and raising a teenage daughter are very real over here.

I enjoyed much of the book especially the sweet relationship between the sisters, and loved learning more about the Hasidic Jewish community. My biggest problem with the book, (and here is where I have clearly crossed over into the parent zone) is that the parents were so one demential. I had trouble believing that even though they were very strict that there were not many, if any tender moments and interactions between the parents and children. Real life is way more complicated. It was very easy to dislike these parents even when I was wanting to pull for them, I'm on their side. Also, the main character Rachel seems very immature for a 15-17 year old. I expect more out of a young lady that was raised with good morals and values. Oh no, see, I have clearly become a grown up! I felt for Rachel at times, but overall I just wanted more maturity from her and definitely more depth from both parents. It was still an interesting read and worth picking up, but I recommended a couple for different ones for my daughter and I'm glad I did.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that entertained to some extent, but ultimately fell short at a few hurdles. For one thing, it contains as much Yiddish as an old Woody Allen book of essays, and the publishers don't help with a glossary or notes of any kind (and this came out way before googling was that common). It's not like many of the characters (targets?) of the book would deign to read it after all, which is kind of the point – and another flaw. For the title aspect of our heroine to be her reading romantic novels, there's a lot of her wanting to move here or there, or become a lifeguard (ie less than fully-clad, around other less than fully-clad people) for the summer, and not a lot of reading. Scenes where she picks up on details of newlywed behaviour, or smelly men with their body hair, as being interesting to her, are much less so to us as they're in each and every girl-coming-of-age novel. And the entire final third could be seen as another hurdle – stifling, and not what we should have wanted for such a character. Still, with the Hassidic background of the family here, and of course the author herself, there is just enough novelty to keep us going.

[Denise Rawling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look into a culture I know nothing about, one reason to read I think, to walk a little in the shoes of others. Despite the tensions and rebellion there is humour, warmth and love in this intriguing and sometimes painfully honest book. Despite finding so much to chafe her enquiring and growing spirit, the main character Rachel often finds space to admire or at least empathise with her parents. Some awkwardness sometimes perhaps in the writing but still a fine portrait of the wild swings of adolescence with confusion and frustration jostling rebellion and conformity. She breaks strict rules with a frank practicality and fearlessness, alternating between maturity and childishness as she finds her own path.

[Mad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating insight into the restrictive mores of the Hasidic way of life. Rachel is the eldest child in a devout Hasidic family living in an upstate seaside resort. Out of the season, the resort is totally empty leaving Rachel's family isolated not only from fellow Hasidics but also people in general. Rachel bristles at the burdens placed on her and challenges the rules laid down by her parents in ways that may seem tiny to us, but which threaten her with calamity if discovered. Rachel's coming-of-age story is unlike any I have ever come across - often very funny and absolutely gripping.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel Benjamin is the teenage daughter of a visionary Hasidic Rabbi living in upstate New York in the 1960s and she is strongly resisting her insular environment and strict upbringing. Rachel’s struggle climaxes when, at the age of 18, she agrees to marry a Hasidic man in the naive hope that maybe it will bring her some independence and freedom. I found the end of the book disappointing – not just because of Rachel’s own disappointments but because it felt unfinished.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming-of-age story of Rachel Benjamin, the oldest of seven children in an orthodox Hasidic family living in a resort village near New York City. This is the first material I've ever read from an orthodox Jewish girl's point of view, and the intricate rules of attire and conduct were quite interesting. I look forward to reading more of Pearl Abraham's books. I learned of this book from the Seattle Public Library's reading list "The Jewish World in Fiction."

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intriguing look into the life of a girl raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Fascinating on many levels and one is pulled in in anticipation of what direction Rachel will follow. Not the ending that I hoped for, but a good read nonetheless.

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written but ultimately depressing. I could have used a little more All of a Kind Family joie de vivre.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 read.

[Emily]

I just wish it was longer!

[KD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within just a couple of pages I was hooked. Rachel, the titular character, who is about 12 years (give or take) as the book begins (16 or so by the end) has such a strong and clear voice, so much so that the novel seems autobiographical. I’m always amazed by authors who can recapture the interior workings of children and teenagers - it’s such a time of change and strangeness and massive introspection.


I adore the main character, Rachel, and love how Pearl Abraham has captured the contradictions of being that age; yearning for autonomy and freedoms but with parents who don’t recognise the growing adult; intellectual and sensual awakening; all in all a lot of introspection. The voice reminds me a lot of Judy Blume’s timeless books, although they are for young adults (equally enjoyed by adults) and this is an adult book. They are capturing a similar place/point in American history, 1960s New York/ New Jersey outside the city, after all. I’d say this book is suitable for young readers too as there’s not anything too graphic, although there are allusions to more mature elements - from 12 and upwards I’d say. In fact, I’d truly recommend this to young women so they can understand how much freedom they live with.

The cast of family characters is also a wonderful read, and coming from a large (non-Hasidic) family I found this ensemble cast, notably Leah and David, who are Rachel’s similar- in age siblings, to be so real. The siblings are bound by their family ties but they are different people, and conflict arises as each sibling sees the world a little differently. Some of the children really buy into the Hasidic lifestyle, others, less so, and this creates tension within the large, rambling family.

Abraham captures the simultaneous joy and desolation of a family holiday for the teenage Rachel; the family turn up in Sea Gate with no reservations and no real plan, leaving Rachel desperate for adventure. I loved this line: “The YMCA is here also, and we stop to see if there’s anything to do. The bulletin board lists ceramics classes, judo, ballet. Nothing we can do without belonging already. There’s a sign that says the swimming pool is closed until mid-September.”

The book is also a book for readers, and which reader doesn’t love that. Rachel stays up late flicking the pages of her library books and can’t check out enough. She eyes up the adult books at the library and duels with the local librarian and bookseller to get access to her precious pages. A reader is a reader is a reader, and can’t be quashed. Her love reading never leaves her as she grows up and her life changes.

I read this book after watching and reading Unorthodox earlier this year, the smash hit of early Pandemic days. I have to say that “The Romance Reader” is a nice counterpoint. Some memoirs of people who once lived in very religious communities trade off shock value and the otherness of the lifestyle, but this is a pleasant, interesting, and subtle insight into a different way of life. Restrained.

I should point out that this is not a memoir, it just feels very autobiographical, in the best way - very authentic and not titillating. Not many Hasidic references are explained in detail, the information given is contextual and relies on some pre existing knowledge. For that reason I would recommend either a) doing some research before hand, but better, b) just underline words as you go and look them up. As someone not unfamiliar with concepts such as “kosher/treif”, “minyan”, “yeshiva”, etc, I liked that these words and concepts were blended seamlessly into the story and not explained, as the book flows very well this way and is more natural. It feels a balanced and fair representation of the community, not a relentless skewering; it’s full of tolerance. At the same time, there’s no denying that the women of this book (actually, the men, too)...the people in this book are massively bound by their preordained roles.

Rachel’s mother, Tove, is a fully realised character. Again, like her daughter Rachel, she’s a person full of contradictions and unexpectedness, just like a real person. The mother, at some turns, smiles at her children’s minor infractions of Hasidic code (reading late into the night), but at times is a harsh and relentless upholder of the strict norms. I enjoyed that she is inconsistent like a real person, and is neither a saintly Miss Honey type nor a demonic oppressor. The mother has her own desires, which are alluded to, and these include both the spiritual and the mundane - for example, after giving birth to her youngest child, Esther, the mother is keen to lose weight and fit into her own clothes. Abraham shows her acute social observance in a scene with the mother and her daughters where she is trying on pre baby clothes, and (rightfully) accuses her daughters of being embarrassed of “[their] fat mother”. Equally, the mother is a dedicated and observant Jewish woman, as shown in her hurt when her children, variously, breach the moral codes she has instilled in them throughout their lifetime. There is conflict after conflict between Tove and Rachel.

I also particularly loved seeing the portrayal of a Hasidic couple where the wife isn’t so isolated and suffering (as there are in some accounts, Unorthodox and other exposé memoirs spring to mind). The mother loves the father and misses him greatly when he’s away working. Although the mother is the consummate homemaker and the father a little hapless and impractical, the parents appear a strong and steady couple whose relationship is full of great love, despite their financial challenges, and is lovely to read. There is a part when one of the children describe the parents decision making process as something that happens in the bedroom, where mother is “soft”. It’s a deeply tender portrayal, and is hopeful. However difficult each of the children’s growing pains may be, you have the sense that everything will turn out okay because they grew up in love and mutual understanding. Some may disagree with me on this reading of the relationship but it’s what I took away from it.

Thinking more about the main character, Rachel, she is really a perfect character to discuss her situation. That is, living in a fairly restrictive “ultra orthodox” environment. This is because Rachel is “old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway” as the wallsign saying goes. Rachel has a pretty full awareness of the religious and cultural code she’s required to follow, but she’s young enough and adolescently rebellious enough to question and challenge some of the strictures that her mother, father and wider community expect her to uphold. I don’t think this is a spoiler as it’s early on in the book, but for example, Rachel breaks fasting on Yom Kippur, which is the most holy day in the Jewish calendar. It’s a day of remembrance and repentance and marks the end of the old year and is the one holiday, of many, followed by Jews almost regardless of level of observance. I can’t pretend I wasn’t shocked at the scene where Rachel furtively eats an old pretzel with her friend in total flagrance of the Yom Kippur requirements; her guiltiness afterwards is complex as it’s made of many components, and the emotion of the scenes that follow are so well written. Despite not growing up in a culture as rule-bound as Rachel’s, the naughtiness and subsequent guilt is so so relatable and real. I think Pearl Abraham with this scene truly captured the inbetweenness of teenagers and what a complex stage of life it is. When you move from being a child to an adult you lose the excuse of ignorance and you become truly responsible for every action. No longer can your parents be blamed solely for your bad behaviour, for a bad upbringing. This idea of the family vs. The individual repeats itself throughout.

I’m so impressed by how well Abraham captures those moments of girlhood; for example, on choosing a new dress for the High Holidays, Rachel is so anxious to go to the dress shop as her mother shops at the supermarket and prepares recipes. They finally make it to the dress shop, where Rachel sees a high waisted grey dress which she desperately wants - it’s not just a dress to her, but a window to a life as a sophisticated teen. Abraham captures the new feeling of protectiveness and awareness over your body at that age too - “Ma nods and send me to the back with Mrs Fixler, who doesn’t hand me the dress to put on by myself. She comes with me as if I can’t dress myself, and I’m glad I thought to wear a slip so she doesn’t see me in my underwear. Her dry fingers are like rough grass, and preparing for the next touch, trying to figure out where it will be, is like following a moving itch.” And the part about the sudden self consciousness of her underarm hair and her machinations for remove all trace of it.


Abraham captures family life flawlessly. The contrast of a vicious parental argument after heading home in the car from Rosh Hashanah celebrations will be a familiar scene, whether orthodox or not: “Fatehr remains silent, and no one says anything the rest of the way home. The prayers for a sweet year don’t mean anything in our family. Our year goes sour in less than an hour. A rhyme. I want to repeat it. Our year goes sour in less than an hour. It’s true. It’s our family anthem.”

Whilst I’ve referred to infractions and peccadilloes throughout, the truth is that Rachel’s disobedience is of the mind and not of the body, and that is what makes this such a fantastic novel. Rachel is a fantastically intelligent, driven, brave young woman and I loved her journey and her resistance; she follows in the great history of Jane Eyre, Lizzie Bennet et al. No spoilers here, it’s about who she is and not specifically what she does to resist.

The novel is full of plot and kept me totally enthralled and up late reading. I saw another reviewer describe it as “perfect” and I’m inclined to agree. I will keep this book in my heart for a long time, and I’ll keep it on my shelves. I recommend without reservation.

[Talia L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Great book. Certain parts I completely related to, being raised religious, others I unfortunately recognized from the schools I was sent (which were more extreme than home), while others were so extreme and shocking to read about. Pearl Abraham's writing, seemingly simple, is profound, raw, and honest. You can really feel the protagonist Rachel's continuous struggle, her guilt and rage and despair...

This book was kind of hard to get through at times, realizing how these children are raised with such restriction, manipulation and control, not allowed to express their individuality, have basic rights to privacy and access to knowledge. Women in this society are automatically at a disadvantage, much more so than in other cultures; their whole lives, they are controlled by either father or husband, not allowed to make their own decisions, and forced to be ashamed of and hide their femininity. Rachel has no choice but to marry, take a path she does not want, because it's her only hope of escaping the life she's born into, but still she cannot escape. Not only is she living in a suffocating society, her home specifically is torture to live in, with a bitter mother who threatens to leave her family constantly, even threatens to kill herself, in front of her young children, and with an immature, hypocritical father. This family lives with the curse of caring what people will think, what people will say...

The Romance Reader exposes the crisis of the many young children raised with this lifestyle, criticizes the values of this culture, and raises many questions. Thought provoking and deep.

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a romance reader, picky on what romances I read but I do read them..of course I'm not forbidden to like the young lady in this novel, having a strict Jewish order to follow, I do feel for her. I got nagged by my mom when she became a Christian (after I became one before her) she telling me that what I was reading wasn't very Christian, it was fantasy, I still read fantasy, and I love Harry Potter and Tolkien (who was a stanch Catholic by the way and you can see his references if you know what you are looking for!)

Rachel, the protaganast in this novel has to deal with an ultra nagging mom, a strict religious upbringing and she wants out of it. In reading her forbidden romances she longs for something more, an independent life, she didn't want to get married as was expected. I do love this book and I loved that this was such a different life to look into, my background in the ancestry is that one side of my family came from Jewish but I don't think they were that strict, reading the family lines you see them marrying into Christian families and it just got all watered down from there. This is a great coming of age novel and I did identify with the girl dispite different backgrounds, we have the same spirits, the need for personal independence, I can be rebellious too if you crunch me in.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rachel Benjamin is the oldest of seven children of a Hasidic Rabbi. She rebels against the rituals of the faith, not wanting to follow what her parents tell her. She wants to read books. She gets a job as a lifeguard and insists on wearing a bathing suit. She wants to wear modern clothes.
I wanted to enjoy this but struggled with it on many levels. I've read a bunch of Chaim Potok and hoped this would be similar. I struggled with most of the relationships: her parents with each other and with her and the other children. Everyone seemed so demeaning. At one point, both parents are out of the country (not even together) and they leave the 6 children home alone w no adults. Really?? I knew from the blurb that Rachel protested her parents' wishes, but it seemed she protested everything, determined to be her own person. Is there no being her own person within the bounds of faith? But my biggest struggle was with the passage of time. It was difficult having a sense of events in relation to other things. The youngest sister is born at the beginning and around page 150, she's 5yrs old yet there was no sense of these years passing. Later, Rachel is teaching and mentions graduation, but, again, no sense of there being enough years for that to occur. Disappointing.

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a book club. I thought it was just 'okay'. A few things bothered me. I thought much of the book absurd on the part of the main character. She's Satmar and I do not realistically understand her behavior nor her thought processes. I just can't see it. The pronunciations of some of the Hebrew words by various characters (such as "Shabbat" instead of "Shabbos") were Sephardic and not Ashkenazi/Yiddish as I would have expected. There were other things, too, but as I'd read it via an audio version, I can't go back and check to make sure I'm right - some of it had to do with 'touching'. I dunno ... just feel kind of 'meh' about it.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

** SPOILERS**

I feel like this book was a lot of build up and then just fell flat at the end. It is very well written and Abraham paints a wonderfully vibrant picture of this family and the main character's life. I felt such sympathy for her struggle. Watching her live under the heavy expectations of her imposing father and his religious expectations was stifling. She dreams of breaking free, and then at the end, she sort of has, but not really. And the most frustrating part is that we don't even get to see what happens! We don't get to see her stand up to her husband, or father, or mother. She is just right back where she started and we don't really know how she got there. Or where she is going from there.

Again, I really enjoyed the writing and the story. I just wanted to SEE Rachel stand up for herself and break free, and I feel like the ending just fell flat. Like I was on the climb of a really high roller coaster, and then it just stopped at the top and we went back to the start without the fun of the decline.

[Lisa Lap · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, the title of this book and even the synopsis are misleading. The fact that Rachel reads romance novels is mentioned only a few times in passing throughout the entire book. While I found an inside peek at the life of a Chassidic Jewish woman interesting the story progressed slowly and ended so abruptly that I thought perhaps my copy was missing pages. Unfortunately, it was not missing pages and that was in fact how the story ended...with a chapter of Rachel finally leaving her family to be alone only for her to be back at home with her family and newly divorced. Where was all the in between of those events? I expected more than a few sentences claiming her family now could acknowledge that her husband was a "bit slow" and not worthy of her? Big let down.

And I particularly annoyed at the attempt to draw readers in to picking up this book by naming it something more interesting than the entire novel.

Until next time,
~Lisa