Inviting comparisons to A.S. Byatt's Possession, Kadish's third novel (after Tolstoy Lied) features two modern scholars investigating a literary historical mystery centered on a female Jewish scribe in 17th-century London. Immersive period detail about Jewish life in 1660s London combines with a riveting plot that touches on the pressures women have faced throughout time, balancing intellectual pursuits with devotion to family. (LJ 4/15/17)

Helen Watt, an elderly British academic in Jewish studies, sees her final opportunity for fame in a collection of 17th-century documents discovered in a cupboard behind a stairway in the home of a former student. The documents, primarily written in Portuguese and Hebrew, are the work of an unknown scribe, identified by the Hebrew letter aleph. As she researches, Helen and her graduate assistant Aaron Levy find that "aleph" is actually a woman named Ester Velasquez who scribed for a rabbi, blinded during the Inquisition. Ester, like Helen, chose a life of intellect over that of marriage and family. The stories of both women are linked as the novel moves back and forth between their lives 350 years apart. Ester and her blind rabbi are beset by the plague and anti-Semitism while Helen and Aaron struggle through the toxicity of academia and their own botched personal relationships. VERDICT This astonishing third novel from Kadish (after From a Sealed Room and Tolstoy Lied) introduces readers to the 17th-century Anglo-Jewish world with not only excellent scholarship but also fine storytelling. The riveting narrative and well-honed characters will earn a place in readers' hearts.—Andrea Kempf, formerly with Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS