When Rachel loses her grandfather, a survivor of the Shoah, during her senior year of high school, she finds herself seeking answers to questions with no one to answer them. The rest of her nuclear family is not observant of their Orthodox faith. Rachel finds herself with a large number of questions and no teacher from whom to seek answers. That is until she meets Yonatan at High Holidays service. This chance meeting changes the shape of her life.
Rachel’s story encompasses a number of themes within this coming of age tale. It’s a story of love, grief, and self-discovery. It is primarily geared toward young adults but given it deals with some very big emotions and life-shaping events I felt it resonated well, as an adult reader. Marzouk does a nice job of interweaving concepts of Jewish mysticism at an introductory level.
This book would make for an interesting discussion in a confirmation or youth group setting. It presents thought-provoking themes about finding personal meaning in ritual and the individual soul’s purpose in this world, with the protagonist gaining understanding of her abilities as a prophetess. While it’s not explicitly discussed in the narrative, I appreciated the underlying elements of the principle of Tikkun Olam.
I’d like to thank the author for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
About the Author
Roni Robbins
Evonne Marzouk has spent her career in pursuit of inspiring others, making a difference, and bringing Jewish wisdom into the world. She grew up in Philadelphia and began writing and publishing poems and stories as a young child. Evonne attended the Johns Hopkins University and received a B.A. from the Writing Seminars program, with a minor in Religious Studies. Evonne founded and is the former director of Canfei Nesharim (recently merged with GrowTorah), an organization that teaches Jewish wisdom about protecting the environment. Evonne began work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 and has played key roles in work on the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint. Throughout all these activities, publishing a novel has been one of Evonne’s lifelong dreams. She is incredibly grateful, and sometimes amazed, that the moment has finally arrived.
Join 5,500+ Followers
As a thank you for registering for our email list, you’ll receive free printable reading journal templates and a bonus 100 book reading list! Members of the email list also receive an exclusive discount code for my Etsy store: MapleStreetStudioHRS.
Submit Your Book
Do you have a book in new of review? Would you like to be interviewed about your latest project? I’d like to work with you! Please visit my Contact Me page to complete the form with your details.
Click the image to find it on Amazon
This page contains affiliate links. This means for any purchase made, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
By Judy Bolton-Fasman Judy Bolton-Fasman’s memoir details her investigation into her family’s past, in an effort to uncover answers to her long-held questions about her parents, including their unlikely union. Separated by a seventeen year age gap, Bolton-Fasman’s father, an Ashkenazi, was 40-years-old when he married his Spanish and Ladino speaking, Sephardic 24-year-old bride. After…
By Akiva Aaronson Let’s start with the back cover description of this book: “The fundamentals of Judaism in one book! The Foundation of Judaism deals with the basics of Judaism ― Jewish thought, Jewish history, Jewish year and more, in one succinct yet comprehensive book. Written in a clear and readable style, with a wealth…
By Jason Sommer Seven decades after arriving in New York from war-torn Europe, Jay Sommer is losing his memory, erasing stories of his family, his escape from a labor camp, the important memories of his past. This has his son, Jason Sommer, reflecting on the trip he took with his father in 2001 to retrace…
Welcome to my November Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. It has been a fantastic month of books. I’ve enjoyed some of the best books of the year this…
Welcome to my December Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. I’ve continued to make progress on my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ list, although, a few new titles have been…
Welcome to my January Wrap-Up! I managed to cross twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already one third of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review three wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
Join 5,500+ Followers
As a thank you for registering for our email list, you’ll receive free printable reading journal templates and a bonus 100 book reading list! Members of the email list also receive an exclusive discount code for my Etsy store: MapleStreetStudioHRS.
April Short Story Feature One of the highlights of my tenure as a member of Toastmasters was coordinating a Murder Mystery theme meeting. Keeping members engaged and motivated to continue working toward their goals can be a challenge. So in an effort to liven things up a bit, I worked with a few other members …
Attention writers! This month's short story contest theme is: A Short Story Inspired by Your Career Entries must be received by midnight April 24th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of October. Read on for further guidelines. Short Story Contest Guidelines Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. …
Read Along with Me This week, I'm looking forward to enjoying a pair of thrillers. The first is a spy thriller, The Man in the Corduroy Suit. Author James Wolff draws on his own experience working in the British government for this series. And my second selection, The Hand that Feeds You by Mercedes Rosende, …
Attention writers! This month's short story contest theme is: A Short Story Inspired by Your Career Entries must be received by midnight April 24th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of October. Read on for further guidelines. Short Story Contest Guidelines Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. …
Are you enjoying the interviews, book reviews, and short story features? All of this is offered at no cost to the authors I work with. Please help me keep it free by making a contribution. Thank you for your support!