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Meideles (2013)

by Leela Corman(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Xtra

review 1: Just finished rereading this gem that follows two sisters as they grow up in early New York on Hester Street (likely Abraham Cahan reference) and as their paths diverge in adulthood. In addition to portraying a bustling Jewish tenement life at the turn of the 1800's into the 1900's, Unterzakhn deals with important issues today such as women's reproductive rights and prostitution. Abortion, contraception, and general women's health issues are brought up extensively with, of course, extensive parallels to today. The sex work is dealt with gracefully and with humanity, in complete contradiction to its crude portrayal in Paying For It by Chester Brown. Yet ultimately the book is a testament to the enduring bond between sisters, a bond that transcends family history, lovers... more, religion, economic and social status, and by natural extension everything else under the sun.
review 2: Fanya and Esther are twins, Jewish, and growing up in the early 1900s. Their mother believes that they will take over her dress shop, but both girls are pulled by very different interests in very different direction. Fanya begins assisting a woman who performs illegal abortions and helps birth babies, and Esther begins assisting at a brothel. As the girls grow older, they fall further in to these chosen professions, and their decisions pull them apart. less

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