For May the selection is The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.

Here's what Rita found about the book:

Dove Keepers is Hoffman's most ambitious and mesmerizing novel, a tour de force of imagination and research, set in ancient Israel. In 70 C.E., nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and an expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love. The Dovekeepers is Alice Hoffman’s masterpiece.

The Sisterhood Book Club is open to all temple members.

PAST READINGS

The April selection was Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich. It was not overly enjoyed by the group. It is summarlzed by Google Books as follows:

Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers—a gift aided by the secret “birthing spoons” she designed. But when a count implores her to attend to his wife, who has been laboring for days to give birth to their firstborn son, Hannah is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians, but the payment he offers is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea. Can Hannah refuse her duty to a suffering woman? Hannah’s choice entangles her in a treacherous family rivalry that endangers the baby and threatens her voyage to Malta, where Isaac, believing her dead in the plague, is preparing to buy his passage to a new life. Not since The Red Tent or People of the Book has a novel transported readers so intimately into the complex lives of women centuries ago or so richly into a story of intrigue that transcends the boundaries of history.

Rabbi Lewis offers the following link for those who want to read more about the author and book: www.lilith.org/blog/2012/03/a-conversation-with-roberta-rich/

For March the Book Club read Time and Again by Jack Finney. The story, set in the present day and 1882 NYC, should get everyone in the mood for the walking tour scheduled for April.

As far as the book itself, Google Books has this:

Science fiction, mystery, a passionate love story, and a detailed history of Old New York blend together in Jack Finney's spellbinding story of a young man enlisted in a secret Government experiment. Transported from the mid-twentieth century to New York City in the year 1882, Si Morley walks the fashionable "Ladies' Mile" of Broadway, is enchanted by the jingling sleigh bells in Central Park, and solves a 20th-century mystery by discovering its 19th-century roots. Falling in love with a beautiful young woman, he ultimately finds himself forced to choose between his lives in the present and the past. A story that will remain in the listener's memory, "Time and Again" is a remarkable blending of the troubled present and a nostalgic past, made vivid and extraordinarily moving by the images of a time that was...and perhaps still is.

The February Book Club meeting focused on love stories.

The third book of the season was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson, a 2003 non-fiction book presented in a novelistic style. The book is based on real characters and events.

The second book of the season was The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. Here is a short review:

At the heart of Edmund de Waal's strange and graceful family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes, is a one-of-a-kind inherited collection of ornamental Japanese carvings known as netsuke. The netsuke are tiny and tactile--they sit in the palm of your hand--and de Waal is drawn to them as "small, tough explosions of exactitude." He's also drawn to the story behind them, and for years he put aside his own work as a world-renowned potter and curator to uncover the rich and tragic family history of which the carvings are one of the few concrete legacies.

De Waal's family was the Ephrussis, wealthy Jewish grain traders who branched out from Russia across the capitals of Europe before seeing their empire destroyed by the Nazis. Beginning with his art connoisseur ancestor Charles (a model for Proust's Swann), who acquired the netsuke during the European rage for Japonisme, de Waal traces the collection from Japan to Europe--where they were saved from the brutal bureaucracy of the Nazi Anschluss in the pockets of a family servant--and back to Japan and Europe again. Throughout, he writes with a tough, funny, and elegant attention to detail and personality that does full justice to the exactitude of the little carvings that first roused his curiosity. --Tom Nissley --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The first book selected for 2011-2012 was How To Breath Under Water by Julie Orringer: Nine brave, wise, and spellbinding stories make up this award-winning debut. In "When She is Old and I Am Famous" a young woman confronts the inscrutable power of her cousin's beauty. In "Note to Sixth-Grade Self" a band of popular girls exert their social power over an awkward outcast. Alive with the victories, humiliations, and tragedies of youth, How to Breathe Underwater illuminates this powerful territory with striking grace and intelligence.

2009-2010 Book Club Summary

At the September meeting the group discussed Tracey Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains. All agreed this was a highly readable, well written account of Dr. Paul Farmer's tireless humanitarian work in Haiti, Peru, Russia, and other places around the globe. All in attendance were struck by Farmer's brilliance, dedication, and selfless lifestyle. Time was spent in discussion looking at his childhood, educational path, personal relationships, religious beliefs, and approach to treating disease and lifting people out of poverty. All admitted feeling we do not contribute enough to our community and the world after reading this book, but understand the message is not to have us all live the life of Farmer. Rather, we just must do more.

The October reading was Who Has Seen the Wind by W. O. Mitchell. This book tells the story of a prairie boy's initiation into the mysteries of life, death, God, and the spirit that moves through everything: the wind.

The year ended with the reading of Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. On December 15 the group got together to watch the critically acclaimed movie version of the book.

In February the group ate chocolate things, drank tea, and discussed January and February's books. Those attending agreed the Dave Eggers novel Zeitoun was an important and moving story. Suggested by the Rabbi, this book chronicles a Muslim family living in New Orleans just before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. Our government plays the story's villain and the language of Islam offers the story's greatest gift--hope.

Also discussed in February was Anita Diamonte's Day After Night. This story of women recently liberated from concentration camps and on their way to new homes in Israel was new to most. The characters were well drawn and the story of their near re-capivity by the British was shocking. Questions of good and evil, right and wrong abound in this novel. Can circumstances change what is good and bad? The group seemed to have decided yes.

In March the Book Club discussed Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Arguably Austen's most famous novel, read it or watch the movie (you will find in 'On Demand' if you have Comcast).

The May meeting concerned Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. This multinational story focuses on English and Indian medical professionals living in Ethiopia dealing with such issues as conjoined twins and a revolution - it is in fact, a beautiful story. This is a long book, so there were two months between meetings (no April meeting). For a taste of the author's writing check out the author's February 26 NY Times article. He writes objecting to the automation of hospital care in the United States.

All are welcome to come to Book Club discussions.