Yesterday I went shopping for a nice winter break novel. I was lucky. I found the first two parts of a trilogy (third part hasn’t been released yet) that I had wanted to read for some time: Rashi’s daughters by Maggie Anton.
Anton delves into the history of medieval Troyes, France, at the time Rashi lived there. Rashi is one of the most famous jewish commentators to the Thora and the Talmud. Not much is known about him, but based on the few known facts Anton tells the story of Rashi and his three daughters Jocheved, Miriam and Rachel. His wife passed away and he didn’t have any sons. Because of this Rashi teaches the Talmud to his daughters, something unique because women usually don’t study Talmud.
It feels wonderful to have these books waiting for me, a real winter break treat. Anton’s writing style has been compared to Tracey Chavallier’s Girl with the pearl earring. She also has a website with a historical bibliography, a map of medieval Troyes, and a weblog on which she reports on the status of the last volume. I’ll keep you posted on how I like the book.
What will you be reading this winter?
PS. Here is a nice Seinfeld clip from You Tube: Festivus, for the rest of us!
