The Weight of Ink

By: Rachel Kadish

Narrated by: Hannah Curtis, Josh Bloomberg

WINNER OF A NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER

"A gifted writer, astonishingly adept at nuance, narration, and the politics of passion."—Toni Morrison

Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink 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.

When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of newly discovered seventeenth-century Jewish documents, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents' scribe, the elusive "Aleph."

Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.

Depth of description

I truly enjoyed the interweaving of all the different threads, stories, exchanges even arguments. This was a work that I didn’t mind going back and forth in time.

Detailed and engaging

Really interesting, detailed look at a time of history that I wasn’t familiar with. The tie in to the modern story line was well done. The author provided important detail without it bogging you down and let it enhance the story. The performances were great too!

Living through the great London plague

I liked the history of the problems still faced by women longing to be heard.I appreciated the details of the London plague and the parallels to our recent pandemic.

Just a really good story

It was a slow start for me at first and I wasn't too keen on the male voice acting but that's because he was supposed to be a full of it grad student and I came to appreciate it . Once I got settled in, I absolutely loved it. A really well written and engaging story. Sometimes the philosophy parts were a bit boring but I still enjoyed them. I liked that is was long . I loved it all.

A beautiful work!

I loved it all. Fabulous writing. I want to read more by her but doubt her other writings could be superior to this one.