Synagogue of the Summit

The Weight of Ink” by Rachel Kadish. As described by GoodReads and Kirkus Reviews, the Weight of Ink is set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century. It is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. Kadish deftly weaves contemporary scholarly intrigue with the voice of Ester Velasquez ranging through Shakespeare’s Dark Lady to Spinoza’s philosophical heresies, leaving no stone unturned in this moving historical epic. This is a longer book so it will be helpful to have September to also read it.