The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

by Sarit Yishai-Levi

A No. 1 international bestseller, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is a dazzling novel of mothers and daughters, stories told and untold, and the ties that bind four generations of women.

Gabriela's mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though her famed beauty and charm seem to be reserved for everyone but her daughter. Ever since Gabriela can remember, she and Luna have struggled to connect. But when tragedy strikes, Gabriela senses there's more to her mother than painted nails and lips.

Desperate to understand their relationship, Gabriela pieces together the stories of her family's previous generations - from Great-Grandmother Mercada the renowned healer, to Grandma Rosa who cleaned houses for the English, to Luna who had the nicest legs in Jerusalem. But Gabriela must face a past and present far more complex than she ever imagined.

Spanning decades, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem follows generations of unforgettable women as they forge their own paths through times of dramatic change, and paints a dazzling portrait of a family and a young nation as they struggle to find their way even as others try to carve it out for them.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Jewish, Israel, Historical, Book Club, Judaism

508 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the binds and curses that tie four generations of women together, this dazzling novel of mothers and daughters held me practically spell-bound to the pages.

Gabriela's mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though her famed beauty and charm seem to be reserved for everyone but her daughter. Ever since Gabriela can remember, she and Luna have struggled to connect. But when tragedy strikes, Gabriela senses there's more to her mother than painted nails and lips.

Desperate to understand their relationship, Gabriela pieces together the stories of her family's previous generations—from Great-Grandmother Mercada the renowned healer, to Grandma Rosa who cleaned houses for the English, to Luna who had the nicest legs in Jerusalem. But as she uncovers shocking secrets, forbidden romances, and the family curse that links the women together, Gabriela must face a past and present far more complex than she ever imagined.

After having read The Two-Family House, following an Ashkenazi-Jewish family, I was beyond grateful to have then found The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, which is set around a Sephardi-Jewish family. And it contains practically all that I cherish, from epic family sagas to curses to secret loves, and all things in between. I was practically giddy with feeling all the things the characters were feeling. So this book greatly surpassed my expectations. The women in the Ermosa family were marvellous storytellers, and I was more than willing to sit for hours on end and listen to their tales, as one does.

But let's circle back to the heart of all the problems in the family:  “The curse of the Ermosa women. My Grandma Rosa told me that the Ermosa women are cursed with men who don’t want them, and vice versa.” And what I found most intriguing was how we get to go back in time and see the exact moment the curse took place and with whom it all started: Gabriela's great-grandfather Raphael Ermosa.

Seeing the curse traced throughout the generations was beyond gratifying at first. My mind was transfixed with how everything was linked so seamlessly in one way or another. However, once you read about the same failed love story repeated more than a handful of times with each passing generation, you get to the point of exaggeration, which I'd feared going into this book. Speaking of which, another thing I feared was the English translation since so many phrases that I love in the original language translated so weakly and awkwardly once read in the translator's words. Iconic Hebrew phrases such as “Tfu, may their name be erased” sounded extremely odd to me in English. But I gradually learned to get over it with time, mainly thanks to the addition of Ladino phrases being inserted in the dialogue. Speaking of which, “pishcado y limon” is definitely a favorite:

“Like everyone else in Jerusalem, Mercada believed in the evil eye and was afraid of evil spirits. When she came home from the market at dusk, staggering along with her baskets on the cobblestones of the Ohel Moshe neighborhood, she could swear she heard the sound of footsteps following her, and convinced that at any moment she would encounter an evil spirit, she would walk faster and murmur, ‘Pishcado y limon.’ Like all the other Spaniols she too believed that the combination of the two words fish and lemon would fend off the spirits.”

On that positive note, I remember the exact moment I became enchanted with this story: Gabriel Ermosa falling in love with Rochel and their unrelenting circumstances. Their romance was the only thing to convince me to read on. It was passionate, tender, and unfortunately short-lived. Looking back, nothing else in this story quite compared to those two together.

“The extraordinary love story of Rochel Weinstein, the Ashkenazia from Mea Shearim, and Gabriel Ermosa, the Spaniol from Ohel Moshe, was the talk of the town.”

I kept hoping for more after it was over... but nada, Gabriel was forced to move on while I still kept an inch of hope in my heart. Also, it didn't help that I'd read this particular part of the book late at night, so my heart felt like it was right in the middle of their conflicting ones. I mean, how could you not be captivated by their liveliness and intensity for another at nearly 12 a.m.?

“Rochel hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the man in the market, his broad, white smile, the dimples creasing his cheeks. She could feel her heart pounding when she thought about him, the blood climbing through her veins and flushing her face. And she, who always preferred sitting on the steps and staring at the sky, she, who refused to help her mother with the washing, cleaning, and taking care of her little brothers, now she jumped to carry her mother’s basket to the market for the Shabbat shopping each week.”

The eagerness and agony and everything that transpired to lead to their ending left me with a wildly beating heart. Needless to say, their story touched my soul the most.

However, this unfortunately lead to the rest of the book paling in comparison for me. Throughout my reading experience of The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, I kept looking for that same spark to reignite, but I waited in vain because that fervor never seemed to last too long whenever it did reappeare. Sure, there were a few points here and there to keep my interest (sisterly love, family drama, etc.), but overall this story seemed to have reached a peak with Rochel and Gabriel for me.

That's not to say that the rest of the characters weren't fleshed out and lively--because they definitely were. Since each generation was given its respected page-time, I couldn't have been more grateful to have gotten to know each and every one of them. Their shared moments varied from the gentle and real to the painful and exciting and beautiful. And I felt similar to how the youngest Gabriela felt about her family secrets:

“It was stronger than me, this thirst for the story of the women in my family, for the secrets that would help me understand. I knew I might discover things I’d regret knowing afterward, but since my nona had opened this Pandora’s box, I had to know so I could move forward with my life.”

From all the women in the Ermosa family: Mercada, Rosa, Luna, Rachelika, Becky, Gabriela... to all the men: Raphael, Gabriel, David, Moise, Handsome Eli Cohen... Wai wai wai, I couldn't have been prouder to have known and read about such a vibrant family. It surpassed my expectations.

4/5 stars

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[Pia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me by surprise. I had read other reviews about it, and they mostly agreed on how good it was, but it was even better.

This is the story of the Ermosa family, Sephardic Jews that live in Jerusalem. Four generations described from the 1930's to the 1970's.
Narrated by Gabriela, Luna's daughter, from the fourth generation, it's a fascinating trip into a culture and lifestyle broken by war and emigration. It's also the story of how the women in the family are cursed by loving men who don't love them.
The book is full of superstitions, traditions words in ladino that make up their culture.

Though Luna, as the beauty queen would seem to be the main character, her sisters are equally if not more interesting. Rachelika and Becky live in her shadow but have their own stories. And Gabriela, Luna's daughter is a beautiful and angry woman. And the elders! Mercada and Nona Rosa are completely opposite. You love them and you hate them. This is a family that clings together at all times. It can be oppressive, but it is also endearing. There's so much love you feel it in each page.

I highly recommend this book. It taught me not only about a culture so very different than mine, but about families, love and tradition.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Historical Novel Spanning Generations

Originally published in Hebrew and now a miniseries on Netflix, Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is a historical novel set in Jerusalem, tracing history as a Sephardic family, there for generations, lives through the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the new British oppressors under the 1917 Mandate, the years leading to Independence in 1948, and on into the turbulent Sixties. The history offers context and color and depth to the story, although some of that background may be confusing to those unfamiliar with the details. But, the beating heart of the story is not the history. This is not Leon Uris with Exodus. Rather, it is the universal story of family difficulties and family estrangements that predominate.

The narrative voice here is Gabriela, the daughter of Luna, the beauty queen whose fashion and style dazzled every man in Jerusalem, and the granddaughter of Gabriel and Rosa, who lived out a star-crossed marriage. They say you never really understand your parents until you are old enough to see them as individuals who made the best decisions they could and struggled to provide for their families. Here, Gabriela gets the real dirt from her great grandmother and learns the dirty secrets of her family history.

Chief among these secrets is what Rosa deemed the family curse – for the women of the Ermosa family to marry men who do not love them. This begins with a Rosa, the orphan girl who was pressed into a quickie marriage to Gabriel by his mother Mercado, who would not have him marry an Askenazi (Eastern European or Yiddish speaking Jew) because the family is Sephardic (those who fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 and speak Ladino, a form of Spanish and Hebrew). Nevertheless his heart mourned for Rochel, who he never saw again, and Rosa was never dear to him though she bore him three daughters, perhaps for the only few times they slept together as Man and woman.

The first daughter, Luna, is the apple of Gabriel’s eye, though she never got along with her mother. She is the fashionista as she becomes a teenager and every single man in Jerusalem follows her around. Though she could have her pick, she waits for her knight in shining armor, David, who she realizes later left his heart in Italy with Isabella. The result is a lifetime of strained relations as she eventually gives her heart to someone else entirely.

It is all these family dynamics that Gabriela learns about, having never seen her parents or grandparents as individuals who had their own pains, Trials, and tribulations. It is a novel about families and about love and emptiness and wanting.

[Olga Godim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A powerful family saga, this book is brutally honest. It starts with the narrator, Gabriela, talking about her childhood in the 1950s in Jerusalem. Gabriela’s relationship with her mother Luna is strained at best. Perhaps, it would be even more fitting to describe it as mutual aversion. From the very beginning of the book, Luna is portrayed as a dismal mother and a horrid wife, a cold, spiteful woman. I disliked her immensely and wanted to know what happened to Gabriela next, but the book veered off.
The author skipped back in time, almost to the banishment of the Jews from Spain, and from there on followed several generations of the Sephardic Ermosa family, the family of small merchants in Jerusalem. The story that emerged was an anatomy of animus, a fictional dissertation on the topic: what happens to people who deny love. Because they all denied it.
Rafael didn’t love his wife Mercada. He married her at the behest of his mother, an obedient Jewish son doing his duty, while his heart belonged to another for all of his life. He wouldn’t allow himself even to acknowledge his torn soul, but their unloving relationship poisoned the family for generations to come. Some even said it became a curse, and it made Mercada a bitter, hateful woman.
When Mercada and Rafael’s sunny-natured son Gabriel fell in love with the woman not approved by his family, his mother punished him by marrying him to the worst bride she could find. She ruthlessly ruined her son’s life and never regretted it.
The curse passed on to Rosa, Gabriel’s wife and one of the few nice characters in the book. Rosa was not beautiful or educated. Growing up a poor orphan, Rosa took care of her younger brother since she was ten. She was kind and tenacious, with a heart full of emotions she didn’t know how to express. She would have loved Gabriel, if he was even a little bit willing, a tad more tolerant of her faults, but instead, Gabriel despised her. No matter how hard Rosa tried, Gabriel wouldn’t accept her, and his antipathy towards his wife filled his life with venom and sadness.
Of course, their daughter Luna, born of such a union, didn’t know how to love at all. The most beautiful woman in Jerusalem, the beauty queen of the title, Luna was frigid and uncaring. She adored clothing and makeup but the only person she truly loved was herself. Repulsed by her husband’s touch, she hated his sexual advances. She wouldn��t even try to understand his pains or his interests, and her treatment of her young daughter was cruel. Shallow and disgusting, Luna refused to nurse her baby from the start. She was a horrible character, but for some reason, the author dedicated most of the page space to her. Perhaps she was exploring Luna as the embodiment of self-absorption, but I didn’t derive any pleasure from reading about that heartless witch.
Only in the last twenty percent of the book, the story returned to Gabriela, showing how hard it was for her to break the curse of loathing, to learn the lessons of love.
Forgiveness, like love, was something the Ermosa family lacked too, and it took Gabriela years of self-hatred to even grasp the concept.
Overall, I didn’t like any of the major players in the tale, didn’t understand their stubborn resistance to love, and my attitude towards the characters colored my perception of the novel. I didn’t like the jumps back and forth in time either. They made the story feel like a jigsaw puzzle, and even when I assembled the entire picture, the squiggly lines between the tiles were blurry.
Fortunately, the Ermosa family drama unfolded on the background of Israeli history, and the historical aspect of this book saved it from being a total disaster. The Turkish rule of Palestine and the British Mandate, the Zionist movement and the Declaration of Independence, the War of 1948 and the siege of Jerusalem by the Arabs – the Ermosa family lived through it all.
They lived through the Holocaust and never even noticed it. While Jews died by millions in Europe, the Ermosas’ petty concerns focused on their small shop and their unloving spouses. While the Etzel group unleashed bloody terror on the British, with constant bombings and shootings – what a tragic comeback the intifadas must be, when the very roots of terror in Palestine rested with the Jews – the Ermosas only cared about their personal safety and their neighbors’ approval.
Some of the younger generation, Luna’s sisters in particular, tried to participate, but never Luna or her parents. Gabriel always forbade his daughters anything untraditional. And the filial obedience was mandatory in that family of narrow-minded Sephardic Jews who didn’t know how to love.

[Jurgita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ši knyga manyje sukėlė tiek minčių ir jausmų, kad aš net nerandu žodžių kaip juos aprašyti. Ši knyga tokia daugiasluoksnė, su tiek daug autorės meistriškai supintų ir tarpusavyje derančių siužeto linijų, kad aš net nežinau, kurią aprašyti čia tiktų labiausiai.
Tačiau mane visgi pribloškė ne tai, o visą knygą persunkęs vienatvės, beviltiškumo jausmas, lyg voratinklis apraizgęs širdį bei aprašytas taip įtaigiai, kad skaitant atrodė, jog sunku kvėpuoti.
Mane pribloškė tas meistriškai sukurtas nelaimingos moters paveikslas, moters įkalintos tame nelaimingume iki jos dienų galo ir iš kurio ištrūkti neleidžia giliai įaugę papročiai bei tradicijos: "aš buvau pačiame jaunystės žydėjime, o jaučiausi moteris pageltusiais lapais, subrendusi ir nugalėta gyvenimo".

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is of family saga spanning four generations told in a very simple prose. The story starts a bit boring. It’s all about family dynamics; who was liked the most; who said what – “maybe a hundred times.”

Then Gabriela, the main character, learns the story of her mother and grandparents from her grandmother. Her family roots went to Toledo when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Jews from Spin in the 15th century. This short part is interesting and rich in cultural details.

However, as the grandma dies, the family present story turns back to boring drama: parents’ fights and Gabriela stealing money from father or pencils and allowance from other students.

Then Gabriela runs away from home to her aunt, who continues the family history of past generations, bringing the interesting story again. Here she learns about her grandfather’s forbidden love.

However, as the story of past generations is being told and is heavily concentrated on family issues it gets boring again. When the issue with Turks or influence of British is woven into the story it gives the story a spark, which is actually missing for most of the part.

The story is very flat. I didn’t feel a connection with any of the characters. The story doesn’t evoke human emotions. The simple prose is to a point of boring.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous novel...
The narration by Marie-Laure Dougnac is splendid!
Simply adored every minute of it!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical fiction novel is a story of four generations of a family in Jerusalem. For the positive aspects of the book, I would say it was interesting to see the culture and experience of the Sephardim Ladino Israelis of the time. (Sephardim and Ladino refers to Spanish Jews, and the closest allusion we have to this today is Latina or Hispanic Americans.) The elder grandmother would perform “Livianos,” an active prayer ritual process, to drive out demons and toxins or any internal problem. Other cultural idioms were interesting too – every time another person is referred to, it is always followed up by “May he/she be healthy” as a constant reference. There were other unusual or unfamiliar customs, such as the process of naming a child after certain grandparents in a particular order, and how one construes their familial relationships. Its actually in there, that once married, the most important relationship to honor is that of your original mother. This is so different from our current American culture, and purports that a woman is not really of worth unless she has children, particularly sons. The food was also hispanically derived, and it was interesting to see this culture and how it operated. There was a clear separation with the Askenazi (Eastern) Jews and the Sephardim, so much so that to have fallen in love, associated with this other branch would be committing an unbelievable sin. I did not know about the strength of that division, even amongst the same religion. There were other cultures to compete against too, including the English and the Kurds. At times I was engaged in the story, and it passed well enough. I personally just wasn’t wowed by it. All in all, it was a solid three, really no more and no less.

What struck me about the novel, and to be honest was tough to endure, was how unlikeable virtually every one of the characters were, particularly the women. There was absolutely almost no one to like. The novel focused on relationships between parents and children, and on marriages, and every one of these relationships were painful. Yes, there were a few holdouts. Rachelika and Moishe had a lovely relationship and a fine family, as did Becky and Handsome Eli Cohen – who hands down had to be my favorite character in the book, even given what a minor character he was. And I loved how he is only refererd to as “Handsome Eli Cohen.” Who we come to know as a small boy, and he barely ages throughout the book even when eventually married. But these relationships were painful, and they never improved. Particularly with mothers and daughters, and in one case with a mother and son. There is resentment and withholding everywhere that is the legacy passed down through the generations. Nona Rosa even refers to it as a curse. That the men in this family don’t love their wives, and therefore pass down a resentment so huge, that it affects the wives ability to adequately parent their children. The relationships were absolutely painful, almost unendurably so. One has to like a character or believe in hope for their transformation, and there was so little of that here. Each character is more hateful than the next, and each relationship more painful. During a month where there is a focus on strong women, one imagines nearly any book would fit. This one does not. The women were incredibly weak, (given my personal definition of strength), and no one was capable of creating their own destiny. So much anger and pain and resentment. The Beauty Queen refers to Luna, (named after the moon), the mother of Gabriela, whose point of view the story is written from. Luna may have been graced with extraordinary beauty, but to little end. She was angry, resentful, and bitter, and somewhat soulless. Through the book, Gabriela tries to piece together an account of the lives of the women and men that proceeded her and sort through her own internal demons that have developed as a result.

I guess I thought I would love this more than I did. Instead, it just sort of left me sad and sour for the pain of the relationships and characters. Its not one I would be quick to recommend.

[Lisa Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

11/2022 update: Really enjoyed the audiobook version.

Original review from 2016:

3.5 stars, rounding up to a 4.

This multi-generational family saga reminds me in some ways of Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits, as it shows the blessings and curses that pass from one generation to another in a family dominated by strong, unique women.

The story is informed by its backdrop of pre-state Israel, as the historical events are interwoven with the characters' stories and experiences. The family's Sephardic traditions and culture create a memorable sense of the language, customs, foods, and more that keep the family connected to its past.

I enjoyed the story as a whole, although I found the language occasionally clunky and wondered whether this was a translation issue. (The book was originally written and published in Hebrew, and appears here in English translation for its US release.) I also think the title of the book is problematic and misleading, as it implies that the book is about one particular character, when in fact it's about the entire family and all of its members as they struggle to find love and meaning in their lives.

Still, I recommend this book for its view into Israel's history as well as the shifting relationships and memorable characters.

I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley. A full review appears at Bookshelf Fantasies.

[Jennifer S. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely swept me away. The story is lush as it covers three generations of women in Jerusalem, beginning in the early 1900s and working its way to the 1970s. I confess, the ending felt a little rushed and I wasn't completely satisfied for it, but the rest of the book is so exquisite, I still give it five stars and highly recommend it. This is what historical fiction should be!

[Adriana Costin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poate că nu abundă de citate sclipitoare care să iasă în evidență, dar merită descoperită. Acest roman a avut darul de a mă scoate din cotidian.
Este o saga de familie despre comunitatea sefardă, din timpul ocupație arabilor, apoi a englezilor și spre final perioada independenței.
Eu am simțit că nu există personaje secundare, fiecare a fost pe rând în centrul poveștii.
Îmi puteam imagina sufrageria familiei Armoza, unde își luau masa și își discutau problemele (unde au avut loc certuri, negocieri și împăcări), magazinul de delicatese, străduțele pe care se plimbau, aerul cald din oraș. Relațiile de familie au fost foarte bine conturate. Fiind o comunitate adânc înrădăcinată în tradiții, luarea deciziilor a fost strâns legată de păstrarea aparențelor. Cei care au fost prinși în această capcană au purtat toată viața povară iubirii neîmplinite, ceea ce a dus inevitabil la dezamăgiri, secrete și nefericire.

[Yana Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of the reviews says, this family saga is made interesting by the historical background. Ottoman empire, British rule, second World War, the independence war - all through the eyes of one family. For me this was the most exciting part.

Many times while reading the book I grew increasingly frustrated with the characters, but that only shows how well the book is written.

The only minus for is the jumping back and forth in time.

[Anca Adriana Rucareanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi-am dorit mult cartea asta. Atât de mult încât am vrut neapărat să fie prima din teancul de cărți necitite de pe noptiera mea. Simțeam că am nevoie de o poveste caldă, întinsă pe generații, ofertantă și vibrantă precum străzile orașului sfânt. Povestea a reușit să atingă anumite corzi ale sufletului meu, dar nu de puține ori m-am simțit captivă între paginile sale. Capitolele sunt extrem de lungi și descrierile devin sufocante la un moment dat.

Lanțul slăbiciunilor și al vulnerabilității se strânge tot mai tare în jurul personajelor și al cititorului. Atmosfera devine densă, încărcată de trăiri, mărturisiri și iubiri fără șanse. Nefericirea plutește peste generații întregi de femei, relația complicată și dulce dintre mamă și fiică se țese cu culori tot mai greu de privit, blestemul parcă apasă tot mai greu și cititorul simte, alături de personajul principal, să întrerupă acest lanț, să îi spargă zalele și să îi fărâme pentru totdeauna legăturile.


https://ancasicartile.ro/regina-frumu...

[Hermien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book but didn't really warm to Luna or Gabriela and found the swapping between first and third person narrative annoying.

[Kriste ☾Papartis ir knyga☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Labai paini ir skausminga istorija, pasakoja apie vienos šeimos keturių kartų moterų gyvenimus. Jos - nervino, erzino, tampė nervų ląsteles, beprotiškai mylėjo, bijojo, verkė, kentėjo, ir buvo savanaudės. Gyvos ir realios buvo, kas padarė knygą emociškai stipria. Vietomis net skaudėjo skaityt, norėjosi ateiti ir apkabinti tas mažas mergaites, papurtyti vyrus, už suktus planus, trinktelėti sau per kaktą, nes tavo prioritetai nesutapo su veikėjos.

Pateikiama daug šalies istorijos, kas leidžia kažkiek daugiau suprasti kultūrinius skirtumus ir įsijausti į aplinką kurioje augo Karalienės.

Tačiau pasakojimas vietomis išsitempia ir pasidaro nuobodus. Neįdomu žinoti ką veikė devintas pusbrolis fermoje ar kodėl kaimynė negeria arbatos, nes jie istorijoje nieko nepakeičia ir nieko į ją neįveda.. Ir kai rodos, grįžo įdomumas (vidurį knygos, jis buvo išgaravęs), viskas pasidarė labai suspaustai, tik pagrindai, jokių smulkmenų, jokių vidinių monologų ar išgyvenimų. Ir tada pritrūkau jausmų.

Per visą knygą lydėjo ta pati pradžioje pateikta nuotaikos nata, bet pabaiga..nereikėjo Holivudo. Tiesiog man ji nelipo ir norėjosi išlaikyti dramą iki pat paskutiniu puslapių.

Ps. Labai kliuvo per daug neverstų žodžių. Taip, jie pagyvino tekstą, tačiau kai per daug trukdė skaityti. Kapojo tekstą, ir stabdė. Vienus žodžius galima suprasti, kad ir iš bendro konteksto, tačiau buvo ir sunkesnių žodžių, arba pokalbių, kur jų daug, ir be Google pagalbos, nebūtų buvę aišku ką jie reiškia. Reikėjo tik * ir paaiškinimo apačioje.

[Shomeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was disinclined to read a book about a beauty queen, but the author is Israeli so I looked beyond the title. I discovered that it's a family saga that partly deals with the period before Israel was a state. My grandmother, who was born in what was then the Ottoman Empire in 1905, spent her childhood in Jerusalem. So I'm always interested in learning more about the history of Jews in what would later be known as Israel. I agreed to review it and received an ARC via Net Galley in return for this honest review.

I have to admit that Luna, the title character, was unsympathetic. I found her self-absorbed and superficial. She always wanted to be the center of attention. Her sister Rachelika thought that love redeemed Luna. I disagree since she spent so much of her life acting like a spoiled brat. I thought that Luna's mother, Rosa, was the strongest woman in this book.

I was interested in reading about the customs of the Sephardic Jews as described in this novel. Some were rather alien to me because my background is Ashkenazi. The theme of conflict between Sephardi Jews and Ashkenazi Jews was important to this book. I thought that if there was a curse on Luna's family, as some women in the family believed, then the curse was prejudice against Ashkenazim. Yet as Ashkenazim became more powerful, they began to discriminate against Sephardim. This pattern of Ashkenazi discrimination against Sephardi Jews continued in modern Israel.

I was also interested in the portrayal of terrorism in this book, and the way terrorists are perceived by the characters. It's often said that one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter. I tend to draw the line at the victimizing of innocent civilians. So did Gabriel, Luna's father. He had no interest in supporting terrorists even if the terrorists were Jews. There is a character in this book who joined a terrorist organization engaged in actions against the British occupiers. There were other characters who were sympathetic to such actions. Terrorists and their supporters tend to believe that the ends justify the means. Even if I am sympathetic toward the goals of terrorists, I believe that innocent blood on their hands will taint their cause, and that Gandhi's non-violent approach is a better model for freedom fighters. Yet I am glad that the author of this novel portrayed a spectrum of viewpoints on this issue.

I have to say that the characters I really loved in this novel were Gabriel and Luna's husband, David. They weren't saints, but they were men who were committed to doing the best they could for their families. I appreciated their sense of responsibility, just as I respected Rosa's endurance. Rosa, Gabriel and David gave The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem stature and pathos.

For my blog's version of this review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

[Vitalija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ir vėl aš čia su knyga, kurios stilistika ne man, tačiau kadangi jau namuose buvo knyga, teko skaityti. Pats pasakojimas nėra nuobodus, gana įdomus, gal kiek pabaiga "pritempta", tačiau verta dėmesio. Nors tai jau ne pirma mano skaityta tokio žanro, net nežinau kaip pasakyti, tokios šalies gal tiktų, tačiau su kiekviena suprantu, kad jos ne man. Knygoje aprašoma daug tradicijų, papročių, kaip vienai moteriai tiek daug reikia patirti ir prie visko prisitaikyti. Knyga nėra smagaus pobūdžio, labiau slogi, jaučiasi vienatvė joje. Tuo pačiu istorija turi ne vieną siužeto vingį pagivynantį pasakojimą.

[Debra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t understand why everyone is rating this book so highly. Most of the characters are selfish and unpleasant. The Holocaust occurs with barely a mention in the lives of these self involved people. The writing is not good, the characters seem very one dimensional and the story just drifts along. I kept waiting for something or someone to catch my interest. So Luna is pretty. We get it. She’s also an awful person. What is the point? What am I missing?

[Gabi Aharonov · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I disliked a book this much. It took me forever to get through it, and honestly, if I wasn't reading it for my book club, I wouldn't have continued with it. The story was both far too drawn out and not fleshed out enough, the characters were mostly unlikeable and not relatable. The premise that people only had "one love" and otherwise could never find happiness with another partner was too Hollywood for me. The only interesting bit was the time period.

[AdiTurbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

טוב, אז היה לי קשה ממש להיכנס לזה בהתחלה, עם השפה הדחוסה ועומס הפרטים והשמות, הקפיצות בזמנים ובין הדמויות, אבל בסוף זה קרה, ונהניתי לשקוע בקריאה וליהנות מן העושר הסיפורי. לא הרומן הכי טוב שקראתי, לפעמים מנג'ס, חוזר על עצמו וקצת לוחץ חזק מדי על בלוטת ה"אותנטיות", אבל גם מלא ברגעים מרגשים, אמיתות חיים וכתוב בתנופה סוחפת.

[Anne Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a sad book! I'm trying to understand if it is about the impossibility of communication between human beings, or about prejudice and bigotry, or just about a family saga.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, many families of Spanish Sephardi Jews are already in Israel, and we will get close to some of them. They form a closed community, not accepting any strangers, by the way of arranged marriages. Raphael falls in love with an Ashkenazi, and being with her, marrying her would be a sin. Impossible. Raphael accepts to marry another one, a proper Spaniol bride, Mercada and loses his faith and any joy he could have.
Mercada is very superstitious and gets famous for being a healer. When her son, Gabriel does exactly the same and meets Rochel, who speaks Yiddish and not Spanish, Mercada rushes to marry him to any Spanish girl but the romance goes on and Gabriel and Rochel would get married if his father Raphael did not suddenly die. Eaten by guilt, threatened by his mother, Gabriel marries Rosa, but the link with his mother is damaged for years and years.
As Palestine turns to an English protectorate, the newly weds try to settle their lives together, without love or lust. They will have three girls and we will follow Luna for a while, who marries a man she does not love either.
None of the characters, not even Gabriela, daughter of Luna, is described with enough depth to attract us. The women wallow in their misery, without ever trying to go against the mores which enslave them. How can you accept Rosa's lack of love for her children? How to understand Mercada, who lived without love and inflicts the same kind of life to her son? How can the mingling of faith and mostly prejudice destroy generations?
Maybe more important, what does the author want to show us? I am still missing it. It is not an unpleasant book, just one that leaves you with a feeling of an unfinished story. The various characters blur in the reader's mind, their motivations are impossible to grasp and the book is missing its purpose -if it had one.

[Stil de scriitor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este o carte de aproape 600 de pagini și chiar daca am citit-o in mai bine de 2 săptămâni (timp puțin și energie putina pentru citit), mi-a plăcut enorm. M-a trecut prin toate stările posibile. Aflam povestea mai multor generații, femei și bărbați, dar și felul în care viața lor ia întorsătură peste întorsătură. Nu este o lectură comoda, dar pentru mine a fost fix ce trebuia. M-a făcut să zâmbesc, sa plâng, să mă intrig, iar sa plâng. Personajul meu preferat a fost Luna, supranumita și Regina frumuseții din Ierusalim. Abia aștept să îi fac o recenzie separata pe blog și să vă spun mai multe detalii! Daca merita citita? Cu siguranță!

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was impossible to stay interested in it. Some of us have great relationships that are intimate in our lives making it difficult to want to stay invested in reading material that is all about people cheating on each other. There's more to this novel than that, but there was so much of it that I quickly lost interest.

[Buff · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh. Often unclear who was narrating. Needed better editing. Main characters not that likable.

[Edita Kazakevičienė · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Troškau suprasti mūsų šeimos moterų istoriją. Ji mane viliojo kaip ugnis drugelį: žinojau, kad galiu nudegti, galiu sužinoti tai, ką pasigailėsiu žinanti, tačiau nuo tada, kai senelė atvėrė šią Pandoros skrynią, privalėjau žinoti, kad galėčiau gyventi."

Romanas – istorinė saga, dukros balsu papasakota trijų kartų šeimos istorija. Pasakojimas prasideda nuo dukros ir mamos pokalbio, kuris atveria daug emocijų, neatsakytų klausimų ir praeities paslapčių. Sakoma, jog tam, kad būtų galima kurti ateitį, reikia suprasti praeitį.

Gabrielė Siton, dabar jau suaugusi, per močiutės pasakojimą sugrįžta į savo vaikystę, į mamos Lunos ir močiutės Rozos praeitį, į pažintį su Rozos anyta Merkada ir proseneliu Rafaeliu. Ji tikisi suprasti, kodėl jos santykiai su mama, aplinkinių vadinama Jeruzalės grožio karaliene, tokie sudėtingi, o kartu atrasti savo šaknis, savo stiprybę ir vietą pasaulyje.

Šios sefardų-žydų šeimos istorija glaudžiai susipynusi su šalies istorija: kultūra, istoriniais įvykiais, pakilimais ir nuosmukiais. Visa tai formavo ir lėmė žmonių likimus. Labai patiko autorės perteiktos Ispanijos žydų bendruomenės tradicijos ir kalbos ypatybės.

Nors tai kultūra, kurioje valdo vyrai, romane itin svarbi moterų linija, per moterį iš kartos į kartą perduodamas nelaimingos meilės prakeiksmas. Tačiau jis paveikia ne visą šeimą ir skaitant džiugino Lunos seserų laimė, kuri buvo tarsi atsvara visiems nelaimingiems įvykiams.

Sužinojau kas yra aškenaziai ir sefardai, kuo jie skiriasi vieni nuo kitų ir kodėl šie skirtumai atsirado. Verčiant palikti autentiški žodžiai ir posakiai, o vienas jų – piskado i limon, reiškiantis žuvį ir citriną (nuo nužiūrėjimo),labai įstrigo į atmintį. Rekomenduoju mėgstantiems šeimos istorijas ir sagas.

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[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this read. I was so confused as to why it was taking me so long to read, I was reading for hours at a time and it seemed like I’d only read about 30 pages an hour. Yes, the material is incredibly heavy but it still didn’t entirely make sense. At some point I noticed it was translated from another language and I thought maybe it was missing something in translation. But by the time I got to the last 40 pages I realized something I hadn’t before: when I turned a page in the ebook I had to two pages before the page number changed. I went to Goodreads to see what the page number was for the paperback versus the ebook and, sure enough, there was a huge difference. The page count on the ebook is definitely wrong.
So, mystery solved! And honestly it explains a bit of why I struggled with the book. I’m not one who normally loves a long book. So I would have been less likely to read this book if I had realized how long it actually was.

I was also incredibly confused when the book jumped between “narrators” with no explanation or transitions. At the beginning of the book, Gabriela goes to talk to a relative about her mother. The relative asks that Gabriela just let her talk until she gets everything out with no breaks to ask questions because she’s tired. So, for most of the story this relative is telling Gabriela about her family history. Then suddenly, with no explanation or transition, it switched to Gabriela talking first person about her mother Luna. She isn’t even talking to the relative, she’s talking to the reader. I don’t even know when she stopped talking to the relative about her family history.

Now, on to the story itself. The story was really incredibly sad at times. This was the story of generations of a family In Jerusalem and their family curse. I thought about using quotes around the word curse but it honestly did feel like they were cursed. If any of them had been allowed to get divorced perhaps the curse could have been broken.

When Gabriela’s mother dies, she learns that almost her entire family has been built on marriage upon marriage where the man does not love his wife.


Many years ago, Gabriela’s grandfather fell in love with an Ashkenazi woman. This actually happened after Gabriel’s own father had fallen for an Ashkenazi woman and been forbidden to marry her.
Gabriel was determined to marry her against his family’s wishes. His parents are furious and his father dies the night before he plans to run away to marry the woman. His mother Mercada uses this awful situation to her advantage. She convinced her son Gabriel that his father died because of Gabriel planning to marry the Ashkenazi woman. She convinced him not to marry the girl. And within the year, she has chosen a bride for him. She chooses Rosa, a poor orphaned girl who works as a maid. No one understands why Mercada chose Rosa. Mercada, the awful woman that she is, actual chose Rosa as a punishment to Gabriel.

While Mercada herself might consider “the curse” to refer to her husband dying because of her son’s love for an inappropriate woman, the reader can see that the curse is really that the men in the family did not marry women they loved because of their family’s rules.

And this sets about a trail of events for all the generations to come.

Gabriel mostly tried to be a good husband to Rosa and Rosa was a wonderful wife to Gabriel. She knew he didn’t love her the way a husband should love his wife. But she did her best to make a good life with him.

When Rosa gave birth to Luna (she is the one who would be called The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem) , Gabriel’s life changed. He loved his daughter with all of his heart and he wanted to be a good father.
Rosa gave birth to two more children that survived: Rachel and Becky (for short). Rachel and Becky were my favorite characters, along with Moise. They were probably the only purely likable characters.

I feel like it was such a sad, endless pattern in this family. The men couldn’t marry for love, their wives tried so hard (atleast at first) to be good wives, they gave birth to children, the husbands loved the children and tried to be good fathers, and then the wives resented their children for getting love that they were not getting themselves. So sad!

I don’t consider any of this to be spoilers because I feel like it’s all described in the book’s description.

I did enjoy the vivid descriptions of the neighborhood thus story takes place in. I also enjoyed the foods described as they were ones I’d never heard of before. I definitely enjoyed learning about a slice of history that I know nothing about. I wish this was a little easier to read, a little shorter and a bit more hopeful. What these characters need more than anything is to stop repeating these awful cycles. I won’t say whether Luna’s daughter Gabriela breaks the cycle because I’m trying to keep this review spoiler free.

I do think I’ll watch the tv adaptation for this because I’d like to see it myself after reading it.

[Maria Vasiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3🌟 pentru scriitură
5🌟 pentru poveste

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

A curse runs in the blood of the family Ermosa, a distinguished family of Sephardic Jews coming from the first wave of return before the British mandate of Palestine: the men of the family marry women who do not love, and women, not loved, pass the curse down to their children, along with a pride tipically Spanish and a sense of duty worthy of a Puritan.
And it's so that, as punishment, Mercada chooses as bride for his beautiful son Gabriel, guilty of falling in love with the wrong woman, the ugly, poor and ignorant Rosa, ruining the life of both. From this strange marriage is born Luna, the most beautiful woman of Jerusalem, as beautiful as capricious, shallow and troubled, who will marry a man who does not love her and have a daughter, also beautiful, that abhor her until death. But will this horrible curse never end?
A beautiful book, full, interesting, which keeps the reader glued to the page whyle the truth about his past is revealed to Gabriela, the daughter of Luna, along with the recent history of Jerusalem and Palestine.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Una maledizione scorre nel sangue della famiglia Ermosa, una distinta famiglia di ebrei Sefarditi facente parte della prima ondata del ritorno, prima del mandato Inglese di Palestina: gli uomini sposano donne che non amano, e le donne, non amate, trasmettono la maledizione ai loro figli, assieme a un orgoglio tutto spagnolo e a un senso del dovere degno di un puritano.
E così che, per punizione, Mercada sceglie come sposa per il suo bellissimo figlio Gabriel, colpevole di essersi innamorato della donna sbagliata, la brutta, povera e ignorante Rosa, rovinando la vita di entrambi. Da questo strano matrimonio nascerà Luna, la più bella donna di Gerusalemme, tanto bella quanto capricciosa, superficiale e tormentata, che sposerà un uomo che non la ama e avrà una figlia, a sua volta bellissima, che la detesterà fino alla morte. Ma finirà mai questa orrenda maledizione?
Un libro bellissimo, denso, interessante, che tiene il lettore incollato alla pagina mentre la verità sul suo passato viene svelata a Gabriela, la figlia di Luna, assieme alla storia recente di Gerusalemme e della Palestina.
Grazie a St. Martin's Press e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.

[Ram · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family saga of the (fictitious ) Ermosa family, a family of Sephardic Jews that spans four generations through the 20th century until the late 60's. The setting is in Jerusalem and the main theme emphasizes on the female members of the family and on the fact that they end up living with men that do not love them. I enjoyed the pictorial language that was used, seasoned with allot of Ladino expressions. I enjoyed the setting, Jerusalem, the city that I grew up in, with it's old neighborhoods and institutional buildings, its Mahane Yehuda open market, and its old businesses, coffee shops, restaurants, schools etc. (Especially the fact that many of the places, restaurants, coffee shops, businesses and schools, mentioned in the story in the 40's, still existed under the same name in the 70's, 80's, and 90's when I lived there, and some still exist today)

On the other hand, I did not connect to any of the characters, and I found some of the main ones irritating. The story is ok, but not more. This is not really and event driven story but more character and relation driven and the characters and relations were a bit lame.
There is not much humor in the plot and generally the atmosphere of the book gets quite gloomy in some parts.

One thing, I would like to know, and if anyone knows, please tell me, concerns the cover of the book (Hebrew edition).

The woman in the photograph is Miriam Hadar Weingarten, the Israeli beauty pageant winner of 1958, journalist and lawyer.

Does anyone know where the picture is taken? What is the building behind her?

[bookyarmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une fenêtre sur court, un journal poussiéreux oublié dans un grenier. Voilà ce qu'est ce roman. Le récit d'une famille sur plusieurs générations au travers des yeux de Gabriela, trouvant des explications à ses soucis existentiels dans l'héritage familial.
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Ca raconte sa mère, sa grand-mère et puis ses tantes aussi. Ca raconte cette famille où les mariages ne sont jamais heureux, où les femmes ne sont jamais aimées de leur maris, malgré les apparences. Ca remonte dans les tréfonds de cette "malédiction" au sein de la famille Ermoza.
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Et puis, ça évoque la maternité. Celle heureuse, innée et naturelle. Celle moins évidente, quand les liens entre la mère et son enfant ne se font pas. Ca parle de la féminité, de ce qu'on attend d'une femme, d'une épouse.
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C'est une plongée au coeur de la Palestine du début du XXème, sous contrôle progressif des britanniques, puis de la révolte du peuple Juif, la guerre, la pauvreté, la perte de l'espoir, et enfin, la proclamation de l'Etat d'Israel.
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Ce n'est pas une intrigue épique où s'installe un suspense frissonnant. C'est une histoire de famille, comme on aimerait les entendre conter par nos aïeux. C'est touchant, ça fait réfléchir. C'est un roman que j'ai eu du mal à lâcher tant le récit familial me captivait. C'est également dépaysant pour ceux qui ne partagent pas la culture décrite. C'était une excellente lecture.