August 30, 2012
Goodreads giveaway
Attention all my Goodreads fans! Plume is doing a giveaway for 10 copies of RAV HISDA'S DAUGHTER, but you have to sign up by Sept 5. Here's the link
Set in Babylonia and Roman Palestine during the Third Century, a critical period in the history of the four monotheistic religions, this historical novel focuses on rabbinic families struggling to establish new Jewish traditions in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, while at the same time Zoroastrian Persia battles Rome, fast becoming Christian, for world dominance. Against this backdrop, women excluded from their religion’s hierarchy, including our heroine, find spirituality as enchantresses, in the very land where the word ‘magic’ originated.
August 23, 2012
Great Review in Library Journal
A source of great anxiety for authors of newly released books is waiting and hoping for reviews. Getting any kind of review is iffy, especially these days when newspapers and magazines have downsized their editorial staffs and greatly reduced, if not eliminated, their book review sections. For a midlist author like me, I accept that reviews in the big press are unlikely, although my publicist sent out over 100 copies of Rav Hisda’s Daughter to major media outlets. My modest hopes are focused on the Jewish media, that reviews there will at least reach my target audience.
So you can imagine my delight when I learned that Rav Hisda’s Daughter has received a “Starred” Review from Library Journal [Sept 1 issue], one of the most influential magazines in the book world. While this will hopefully lead to lots of sales to libraries, plenty of folks besides librarians read its reviews. Here’s the review below; see if you can pick out the phrases that my publicist will use for future blurbs.
"Anton, author of the acclaimed “Rashi’s Daughters” trilogy, has penned her best book to date. Using her extensive knowledge of the Talmud and other historical Jewish writings, she immersed herself in the tractates to uncover a marvelous heroine for this historical novel. Hisdadukh, daughter of the rabbi Hisda, was born in the third century CE in Babylonia, where many Jews fled to escape persecution after the Romans conquered Israel and destroyed the temple. Growing up absorbing her father’s teachings intended for his male rabbinical students, Hisdadukh developed a great love of the Talmud and the Mishna, Jewish oral law. This first book of two begins when Hisdadukh is eight and follows her from her marriage to her first love, Rami, when she’s 14 through the death of her young husband and the loss of her children, to her transformation into an independent woman. In a time when women were prized for their beauty and their ability to bear children, Hisdadukh was an anomaly, a woman who loved learning and spirited debate. Complex discussions of Jewish law and tradition as well as detailed description of the culture and customs of the times enhance truly wonderful storytelling.
VERDICT: This absorbing novel should be on everyone’s historical fiction reading list."
--- Library Journal STARRED Review, Sept 1, 2012
August 21, 2012
Fall foliage from Blowing Rock NC
Down to our next-to-last day on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, and we spent it hiking around two lakes near Blowing Rock. At 4000 ft, autumn comes early, but I was surprised to see some fall foliage in August. These trees were at Price Lake, part of Julian Price Park. It was a lovely 2.5 mile loop around the lake, and later we hiked to Trout Lake in Moses Cone Park. Moses Cone, a textile magnate of the 18th century, donated his huge estate to the Parks Dept. Interestingly, none of the information about him seems to mention that he was Jewish - although it seems obvious to me from his name and occupation.
August 17, 2012
Hiking Crabtree Falls NC
This morning we took a fantastic hike to Crabtree Falls through a deciduous rainforest in Blue Ridge Mts. Midway through it began to rain, but the canopy of trees was so thick we only heard it, and didn't get wet at all.
Then for a down-home Shabbat dinner that started with cold smoked trout salad, followed by corn bread, baked beans, cole slaw and 1/2 BBQ hickory-smoked chicken. We saved half of this for dinner on Saturday, in order to have room for desert - rhubarb pie. All this food smoked and/or baked locally.
August 15, 2012
A small balagan in the Jewish blogosphere about Reform Judaism’s attitude towards Talmud study erupted lately in response to publicity about the recent Daf Yomi cycle’s completion. Of course I had to weigh in, so here are some of the blog posts, and below is my comment.
Jewish Telegraph Agency, TorahBlahnik blog, Shamash Org
Frankly, one of the purposes of my RASHI'S DAUGHTERS and RAV HISDA’S DAUGHTER novels is to encourage more non-Orthodox Jews, and more women, to study Talmud. The Judaism we observe [or choose not to observe] today is Rabbinic Judaism. The Torah may be our 'Ur-text' but many of its laws do not apply to modern Jews; i.e. we do not sacrifice animals in Jerusalem for our festivals anymore, instead we attend synagogue and say the prayers and blessings that the Talmud describes. It is the Talmud that informs Jewish Law and customs, as it has done for 1500 years. Reform Jews especially should be studying Talmud because of its great diversity of opinion, its respect for minority opinions, and techniques for challenging/amending Torah when its rules no longer work in society.
August 11, 2012
Announcing RAV HISDA'S DAUGHTER
Better late than never. I just realized that with all the excitement of Volume One of my new series, Rav Hisda’s Daughter: A Novel of Love, the Talmud, and Sorcery coming out on July 31 instead of as originally planned on Aug 28, I neither announced its publication nor my upcoming book signings.
For those in the Los Angeles area: I’ll be speaking at Barnes & Noble on Third St Promenade in Santa Monica on Tuesday, Aug 23, and at Book Soup in West Hollywood on Thursday, Aug 28. Both events start at 7 pm. For further info and events in other cities, see my website schedule.
Now for a little plot summary: Hisdadukh, blessed to be both beautiful and learned, is the youngest child of Talmudic sage Rav Hisda. Her story unfolds in third-century Babylonia, in the household of her father, one of a handful of beleaguered rabbis struggling to establish new Jewish traditions after the destruction of Jerusalem's Holy Temple.
The world around her is full of conflict. Rome, fast becoming Christian, battles Zoroastrian Persia for dominance while Rav Hisda and his colleagues face defiance by those Jews who reject the Oral Law and cling to the old ways. Against this backdrop Hisdadukh embarks on the tortuous path to become an enchantress in the very land where the word 'magic' originated - where some women draw on the occult to protect and to heal as some employ sorcery to gain power for themselves and to injure others.
But the conflict affecting Hisdadukh most intimately arises when her father brings his two best students before her, a mere child, and asks her which one she will marry. Astonishingly, Hisdadukh replies, “Both of them,” and that is what eventually happens – albeit first one and then the other.
Based on actual Talmud texts and populated with its rabbis and their families, Rav Hisda's Daughter: Book I – Apprentice [A Novel of Love, the Talmud, and Sorcery] brings the world of the Talmud to life - from a woman's perspective.
For more, including first chapter, reading group guide, author Q&A, click here.
August 08, 2012
Finally back to book biz
Now that RAV HISDA’S DAUGHTER is officially launched, with both printed and e-book versions on sale, I’m anxiously awaiting reviews and even more anxiously awaiting readers deluging my email inbox with errors they’ve found. Despite subscribing to Google alerts, not all the reviews or mentions of my book come to my attention, or even to my publicist’s. Here are three that have:
San Francisco J Weekly , Forward Magazine , and San Diego Jewish Journal
Of course, there are also a few glitches. Originally the pub date was supposed to be Aug 28, which is the perfect time for a Jewish-themed book, since the prime 3-month publicity window will include High Holy Days, Jewish Book Month [November], and Hanukah. But as happened with RASHI’S DAUGHTERS, Barnes & Noble asked for an early pub date in order to ensure them copies for their special “Jewish New Year” promotion tables. Happy to oblige, Plume moved the pub date to July 31. But somehow this did not get communicated properly to the online booksellers, whose e-version continued to list Aug 28 as when RAV HISDA’S DAUGHTER could be downloaded. Several fans emailed me to complain, I brought the problem to my editor, and e-versions were available a week later. O should all our problems be so easily solved.
August 02, 2012
Siyum HaShas 2012
Yesterday was the final day of the 12th Daf Yomi cycle, which began way back in Feb 2005, when the first volume of my RASHI'S DAUGHTERS trilogy was published. I assume that there were some celebrations in Israel and New York when the previous cycle concluded back then, but I don’t think it’s my imagination that I’m seeing quite a bit more publicity on Daf Yomi now.
According to news reports, over 90,000 mostly Orthodox men attended a Siyum HaShas in MetLife Stadium in NYC yesterday to celebrate completing their seven years of Talmud study. And both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times published opinion pieces about Daf Yomi, as did many Jewish newspapers. I include a few links to some of the more interesting articles, especially those that mentioned the new phenomenon of women studying Talmud. Maybe seven years from now, it will be so common as to be no longer newsworthy.