The Marrying of Chani Kaufman

Starred review from March 10, 2014
This impressive debut provides entry to a London kehilla, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the lives of a young, betrothed couple and a rabbi and rebbetzin are gracefully intertwined. In Harris's world, life is lived religiously and compliantly, ritual to ritual, Shabbat to Shabbat. Given that the traditional choice of spouse here is practiced through a matchmaker, Baruch Levy defies both his family and expectations by stubbornly choosing to court Chani Kaufman. Barely acquainted, and after only a few meetings, Chani and Baruch become engaged; they are intelligent and pious, yet completely uninformed, and anxious, about the wedding night. The marriage of Rebbetzin Rivka Zilberman, Chani's wedding tutor, and her husband Rabbi Chaim Zilberman is troubled. Tragedies, loneliness and alienation have led to the rebbetzin's confusion: "How could she fit into a community where the pain of her loss was swept under an endless tide of prayer?" Intelligent, revealing characters who command conviction and connection; the tug between the old ways and modern life; and the universal themes of desire, guilt, manipulation and submission will resonate with readers from all backgrounds. Harris's debut is as deeply melodic and exciting as her depiction of Shabbat in Jerusalem, and will linger after the last page. Agent: Diana Beaumont, Rupert Heath Literary Agency.

March 15, 2014
Not just love and tradition, but rules and expectations shape the relationships of two couples from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, in a British novelist's engaging debut. No touching, no television, no immodesty of dress or behavior. The strictures of the North London religious community Harris evokes in her Man Booker Prize longlisted first novel make an extreme contrast with the norms of secular life. In this contained world, in 2008, Chani Kaufman and Baruch Levy are getting married after a mere three dates. Opening with their wedding ceremony, the story loops back to the couple's first encounter, the matchmaker's involvement, the courtship, the parents' reactions (his mother doesn't approve) and the proposal. Shy but smart, virgins both, Chani and Baruch seem to be well-matched. But so were Chaim and Rebecca (now Rivka), the rabbi and his wife--parents of Baruch's friend Avromi--who met in Jerusalem in 1982, fell in love in freer, more vibrant circumstances, yet now live lives shaped by piety and conservatism. Harris' simple, sympathetic, sometimes-comic portrait of a tight-knit world gently illuminates its anxieties and tensions, and through Avromi's secret relationship with a fellow college student she exposes the sacrifices and choices its members make out of loyalty and belief. As Rivka, who's responsible for preparing Chani for her new role as wife, reaches a crisis in her own life, Chani experiences the excitement of her wedding and the two women's paths diverge, following their sharply distinct trajectories. A readable, compassionate portrait of roles, especially women's, in a Haredi community that only occasionally strays into stereotype.

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April 15, 2014
In London's strict Orthodox Jewish Charedi sect, girls are customarily matched up and married off at a young age. At 19, Chani Kaufman is almost on the shelf. It comes as a welcome relief for her to learn that Baruch Levi, a serious rabbinical student, would like to meet her. The news is less welcome to the parents of both young people, as it disrupts the business of matchmaking and interferes with their ideas of more suitable spouses for their children. As the two become acquainted on a series of chaste dates, their budding relationship stands in stark contrast to that of their rabbi and his wife, Rivka, whose gap year in Jerusalem had led to her involvement with a religious youth group and an increasingly devout boyfriend. Now, years later, she is conflicted about the choice she made. VERDICT The relationships in this first novel highlight the differences between those who choose an observant life and those who are born into it. This gentle romance, laced with humor and charm, also deals with the weightier questions of faith and observance. Warmly recommended.--Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2014
Harris takes readers into the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in London. It is 2008, and 19-year-old Chani Kaufman is about to marry Baruch, a young man whom she has seen only four times. As she stands uncomfortably in the wedding dress used by her mother and her older sisters, she is nervous about what the future holds, especially since her knowledge of the physical aspects of marriage is lacking. Using flashbacks to tell the story of this arranged courtship, Harris contrasts the story of Chani and Baruch with that of Rabbi Chaim Zilberman and his wife, Rebecca, who met at a university in Israel and became observant as adults. While Chani and Baruch begin life together as a couple, Chaim and Rebecca are struggling to maintain a viable marriage. The book introduces readers to a little-known way of life and asks us to consider the role of faith and family in today's world. Anyone interested in relationships will enjoy this fascinating take on the subject; in fact, Jane Austen fans will find much that is familiar in the well-developed characters and the social conventions they must navigate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)