Jewish Book Club discussion

April's Book is 'Becoming Malka' by Mirta Ines Trupp.
Enjoy!

שלומ

Hello everyone! I have actually read both of Mirta Ines Trupp books. I found them to be light and entertaining- refreshing reads! I posted my review for Becoming Malka here...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thank you Claudia!

Hmm... Its a short little thing. Just under 200 pages with bold type. I finished it in a morning, before making pancakes for the group of 14 year old kids who had slept over, (motzah brei for the rest of us.). Actually, the non-jewish teens just loved the matzah brei! In any case, I knocked off extremely quickly. One thing or two to note, before the review continues. There is a time travel element, and Molly accidentally travels to Russia in 1900, and meets her entire paternal family, at a critical juncture in political times for the Jews. This "experience" happens just before the family needs to get out of Russia and leave their home for better and safer times. It is there that she meets her great great grandmother Bubbie Malka. Malka (correctly) has some knowledge of the intersection of Judaism and Jewish Mysticism with tarot, Kabbalah, and a bit of magic. I actually wish this part was more developed and interwoven into the story. Molly, the central character, was a bit annoying to me. I get it that she was supposed to be the intellectual analytical one, a rebel from her mother's spiritualism and joy - representing as well the two sides of her ancestral paternal family. But its important for a character who is all reason and thinking not to edge on being a caricature. I would have loved for her to bridge those two worlds of her parents better, thus being what emerged from the early debate of tradition versus reform. So the other convention that is ever so slightly bothersome, has to do with my personal critique of time travel storylines. Its not that I mind so much the actual travel, but the pages and pages where the accidental jump has left someone feeling tricked and doubting the obvious for pages and even a chapter on end. Not I have never accidentally fallen into a portal myself, so I can't speak for the experience of what it is like to be assimilating the impossible experience as true. But, as much as that mental adjustment would be difficult, I like to think I wouldn't be coming up with stupid explanations for the the obvious, and would get with the program quicker than some of these characters do. Listening to their denials of the new reality and explanations of who has gone to lengths to trick them, annoy me. But that's just me.

The story itself, was fascinating - and how the characters interacted with her, whether they knew the truth of her or not. I really enjoyed that part, plus learning about Russia and the politics of the time. And dare I admit it? I cried at the end, for the authors sake, or those who have read it, it was the bit about the servant girl that had me bawling for a good half hour after I had finished. And then the legacies left behind, really touched me. I was breezing through it, and then all of a sudden, I was hit hard at the end, unexpectedly.

Becoming Malka is one of those books I have had my eye on for a little over a year. I have really been looking forward to reading it. I entered like three giveaways, and now it is the Book of the Month: April 2017, for the group read for the Jewish Book Club. You know the one. The one of which I am the only and sole member, at least that reads and reviews the book of the month. But it gave me the opportunity to read it now. So I am not complaining that much. Plus, it fits one of my challenges for my main group. It fits the personally chosen categories of both Jewish and Historical Fiction, though I can't use it for both. It will complete my category challenge for Jewish, and leave me with just a few books left to complete the entire thing - 21 books total... Perhaps others will pick it up, and we can indeed talk about it together. I enjoyed it. It was a nice (Passover) morning with an unexpectedly moving end.

Thank you Amy. I appreciate your honest review and your commitment to the group. Chag Pesach Sameach!

Reviewed on Amazon By Vladislav Adelkhanovon April 9, 2017- Becoming Malka- 5 stars

Reading this book was like being at sea, feeling the waves that carry your boat. Some of them were long, high and breathtaking, some were gentle, just softly caressing, and basking under the sun that smiles from above. In either case you feel safe in the hands of an assured captain-author.

The book encompasses several genres. It is an adventure of a young adult, Molly, who, if grumpy at the start of her journey, then grows on you, as a person who is aware of her character traits and her development. It is also a fantasy-novel, a historical fiction, a family story, and much more. The philosophical discussions might remind the reader of Thomas Mann’s “Magic Mountain”, also author keeps their intensity and length in harmony with the book’s structure and style. I was particularly drawn towards one of the main characters, whose steady and rather calming presence has some commonality with her sister from ''Howards End'', Ruth Wilcox. Men of the novel are all appropriately different, with each to have their own paths and dreams.

Readers can find useful details while absorbing passages on family’s fashion in clothes, and on the house cuisine. The monologue of the house cook is really a special feature, elevated by her passion and deep knowledge of the subject. For a few times book also raises to the height of a true drama, where its characters open up from an unexpected angle, and the words are resonating with emotion. It was already said by other reviewers that the book is packed with the historical, sociological and folkloristic facts - I personally learned from it a great deal in this respect. Overall I found it an engaging, well written story, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.