In light of my upcoming YA novel, I got an email from what has to be my youngest fan, a ten-year-old girl named Zoe from the Midwest. With her permission (and her mother's) I'm sharing what she thought about the adult content.
"Regarding the sex scenes, I thought they were interesting. I am interested in sex topics in general and thought it was educational the way you described the customs at that time. I did not find anything offensive. I had a pleasant feeling while I was reading the sex scenes. I was not shocked at all. They were presented very nicely. I never knew exactly what people do. Now I have a better idea. In our house we talk about everything. So I have the freedom to explore and ask about all sorts of topics that other families may find distasteful or taboo.
I thought there was too much discussion of Talmud. It was a little boring for me. On the other hand, having the Talmud intertwined throughout the story was cool because I like to learn about what the Talmud teaches. I thought it was really fun when bride and groom were advised to read certain things before the wedding night and for other relationship issues."
Some of my fans are aware that two years ago, JPS (Jewish Publication Society) approached me to write a YA (Young Adult) version of "Book I - JOHEVED." After some consideration, I realized that such a project would be interesting and not too difficult, and since many people have told me that they wish my book was more appropriate for preteens studying for Bnai Mitzvah, I agreed. I did most of the revision last summer, while "Book II - Miriam" was being readied for production, with the result that "Rashi's Daughter: Secret Scholar" will be out in June. Yes - this June!
"Secret Scholar" begins a year earlier than "JOHEVED" and stops at her wedding (without the wedding night). The YA version then ends with the birth of Rashi's grandson, as does the original novel. Much, but not all, of the Talmud study is omitted, as are the adult themes of the second half, as well as some of the minor characters. The flow of scenes is different, and hopefully better, as I made the chapters end with more cliff-hangers for example. I tried to use my improved writing skills to make "Secret Scholar" a better book than the one that inspired it.
This week I received the copy-edited version of "Secret Scholar" to check and make any final corrections. So I stopped writing "Book III - RACHEL," which is at Fall 1096, and went back 30 years in my Rashi family saga to the year before Rachel's birth - a rather disorienting experience. JPS is still thinking about a cover design, so if you know of a nice piece of art depicting a medieval girl, let me hear about it.
Again my writing life diverges from my personal life. While the world is celebrating (Hanukah, Xmas, Adha Eid, New Year's Eve, etc.) in 2007, Rashi's community is mourning the crusaders' massacre of German Jewry in 1096. For those readers who've appreciated (or been offended by) the explicit sexuality of my earlier books, you'll get to experience some explicit violence for a change in Book III.
With all the Jewish holidays I've described in "Rashi's Daughters" so far, I saved Tisha B'Av for 1096. The yearly mourning for the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem must have been particularly intense that year for the Jews of Troyes, who surely lost friends, colleagues and family in Cologne, Worms, Mayence and many smaller German communities that the crusaders decimated. I imagine it must have been similar to the Jews of America's response when learning of the Holocaust. Even more so since the French Jews sent a warning to their German brethren, who wrote back that they were safe in Germany, that their local bishops would protect them.