The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
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4.0 • 107 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A “stunning” portrait of life and love inside an insular Jewish community that “reads like an Orthodox Pride and Prejudice . . . Rewardingly delightful” (Bust).
London, 2008. Nineteen-year-old Chani Kaufman is betrothed to Baruch Levy, a young man she’s seen only four times before their wedding day. All the cups of cold coffee and small talk with suitors have led up to this moment. But the happiness Chani and Baruch feel is outweighed by their anxiety about the realities of married life; about whether they will be able to have fewer children than Chani’s mother, who has eight daughters; and about the frightening, unspeakable secrets of the wedding night.
Through the story of Chani and Baruch’s unusual courtship, we meet a very different couple: Rabbi Chaim Zilberman and his wife, Rebbetzin Rivka Zilberman. As Chani and Baruch prepare to share a lifetime, Chaim and Rivka struggle to keep their marriage alive—and all four, together with the rest of the community, face difficult decisions about the place of faith and family in the contemporary world.
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and selected as an Amazon Best Book of the Month, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman is a “deeply melodic and exciting” story that “will resonate with readers from all backgrounds” and “linger after the last page” (Publishers Weekly).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This impressive debut provides entry to a London kehilla, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the lives of a young, betrothed couple and a rabbi and rebbetzin are gracefully intertwined. In Harris's world, life is lived religiously and compliantly, ritual to ritual, Shabbat to Shabbat. Given that the traditional choice of spouse here is practiced through a matchmaker, Baruch Levy defies both his family and expectations by stubbornly choosing to court Chani Kaufman. Barely acquainted, and after only a few meetings, Chani and Baruch become engaged; they are intelligent and pious, yet completely uninformed, and anxious, about the wedding night. The marriage of Rebbetzin Rivka Zilberman, Chani's wedding tutor, and her husband Rabbi Chaim Zilberman is troubled. Tragedies, loneliness and alienation have led to the rebbetzin's confusion: "How could she fit into a community where the pain of her loss was swept under an endless tide of prayer?" Intelligent, revealing characters who command conviction and connection; the tug between the old ways and modern life; and the universal themes of desire, guilt, manipulation and submission will resonate with readers from all backgrounds. Harris's debut is as deeply melodic and exciting as her depiction of Shabbat in Jerusalem, and will linger after the last page.
Customer Reviews
As an outsider…
I was not really familiar with this book and I took a chance in reading given it popped up as a recommendation in my feed. As an outsider I was completely engaged and intrigued by the characters and their culture. I was happy to see how things ended for the main characters but was left a bit underwhelmed on Rivika. I would have loved to see how her story unfolded. It was painful at times to read of the challenges in her marriage. I also would have loved to see what the future held for her son. Overall it was a great read. Would recommend.
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
This tome is profoundly anti-Semitic and specifically re-creates and reinforces multiple negative stereotypes about Orthodox Jews. I read 300 pages in hopes that it would improve but it gets increasingly offensive - I finally stopped at the attribution of the word "shyster" to the thoughts of the Jewish matchmaker in thinking about a character's sons. "Shyster" is a derogatory term that evolved from Shakespeare's vicious description and treatment of the Jewish lawyer Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.
Great Story
This was well written and easy to follow, although it goes back and forth from current time to the past. It shows the different struggles that each individual has, not necessarily with their religion, but within their community, Overall, a great book!