Life, Love and Talmud in Medieval France

Secret Scholar Reviews "Rashi's Daughter: Secret Scholar" is a richly detailed evocation of a family, a place, and a way of life .... Like honey taken with study, Rashi's Daughter makes learning sweet. --Karen Cushman, author of The Midwife's Apprentice (Newberry Award Winner) and Catherine, Called Birdy (Newberry Award Finalist). "In "Anton paints a picture of Jewish life in medieval France that is compelling and relevant. Although she lived centuries ago, teenage readers will relate to Joheved as she questions her society's expectations, seeks love, and grows into adulthood." --Deborah Bodin Cohen, rabbi and author of Lilith's Ark: Teenage Tales of Biblical Women (National Jewish Book Award Winner). Based on her adult books about the daughters of Biblical scholar, Rashi, Anton introduces Joheved and her sister, Miriam, who are living in 11th century France. Though the book spans years, readers come to know the sisters on superficially, and time and place is all. Anton provides a detailed but never boring look at what life was like at the time for residents of Troyes in general and Jewish girls in particular. In some ways, it's what one might expect - keeping religious holidays, make a home - but these sisters are also privileged and study the Torah [against their mother's wishes]. Moreover, Joheved knows the family business, winemaking, and Miriam prepares to be a midwife. Throughout Anton does a masterful job of explaining the intricacies of medieval life, from how a grape is picked to the way parchment is made; why certain amulets are used in childbirth and the system of taxation on wine. With several important female characters besides the sisters, the beautifully shows the rich diversity of women and the lives they lead, even long ago. -- Irene Cooper, Booklist, August 2008 Adapted from the author's adult novel about Rashi's daughter, Joheved, this is for teenage readers. It is set in Troyes, France in the eleventh century and offers a view of a vibrant and close-knit Jewish community co-existing with its Christian neighbors. As Joheved and her younger sister Miriam study Talmud with their father, a renowned scholar and vintner not yet known as Rashi, their more conventional mother fears community disapproval and the possibility that they will be too learned to ever find husbands. Yet matchmaking, betrothal, romance, and childbirth are major parts of the story, assuming as much if not more importance than Rashi's daring decision to teach his daughters Talmud. The plot is filled with Jewish lore and superstition of the period, with the omnipresent threat of demons and the need to ward them off coloring a great deal of the characters' behavior. In contrast, Joheved's devotion to Talmud and her father's vast knowledge rise above the mundane and earn them the respect of both their co-religionists and Christians. Rashi's character is well-developed and multi-dimensional: he would prefer to be away from his wife and daughters learning at one of Europe's great Torah centers yet must stay at home tending his family's vineyards and selling wine to earn a living. The conflict he feels is sometimes expressed in outbursts of temper, especially against his wife and aging mother, creating a portrait of the great sage as a human, not a tzaddik. Joheved and Miriam are also sympathetic characters and teenage girls of today will find some things in common with them, despite the differences that have developed in Jewish culture over the centuries. Modern Jewish feminism is the underlying inspiration of the story but it is well integrated with the plot and characters and not anachronistic. In Sylvie Weil's outstanding novel, My Guardian Angel, Rashi's granddaughter is the main character and feminism is also the animating idea. It is for slightly younger readers than this book and together they offer a fascinating look at what Rashi's life, family, and world might have been like. -- Linda Silver, Association of Jewish Libraries newsletter, Fall 2008 Maggie Anton has transformed her successful adult novel based on the life of one of Rashi's daughters into a biography for young readers. Rashi's Daughter - Secret Scholar is an absorbing tale set in 11th-century Troyes, France. The religious mores of the community, the intricacies of winemaking, the structure of family life and the tyranny of the nobility add unique dimensions to the story of Joheved. Rashi is determined to teach Torah to his three daughters despite the resistance of their mother, who fears that cultivating their intelligence will frighten away prospective grooms. However, Joheved is well schooled in Jewish history and law, and determined to wear tefillin because "they help her to pray better." She finds a husband in Meir, who loves her even more for her knowledge and devotion - a happy ending to well-told story, leaving readers awaiting sequels about Joheved's sisters. -- Hadassah Magazine, December 2008