Banned in Manhattan – The Sisters of Book Row: A Novel by Shelley Noble

The Sisters of Book Row addressed the issues of censorship and repression that arose from the infamous Comstock Laws that banned materials that could be deemed "pornographic" or dealt with topics such as birth control, prenatal care, abortion, and the sex trade. These laws stated that even art books showing nudes by artists such as Michelangelo fell into the pornography bucket. These laws originated in the 1870s, and weren't fully struck down until the 1970s. 

Speaking publicly about birth control, disseminating information about it, or printing and mailing such materials was illegal. Instructing women on how to manage their pregnancies was strictly prohibited. The famous birth control advocate Margaret Sanger was hunted down like a murderer. She later founded Planned Parenthood. 

In 1915, the Applebaum sisters of the title operated a used and rare books store on what was once Book Row (Fourth Avenue in Manhattan, which becomes Park Avenue South above Union Square). They had inherited the store from their father, who had dealt in antiquarian books and trained the oldest daughter, Olivia, in bidding for and purchasing books at auction and from private collections, restoring and rebinding them, and working with clients. The other two sisters, Daphne and Celia, worked on the retail side of the business.

Olivia was also struggling with cataracts which would ultimately lead to blindness, since safe and successful surgery was not yet available. She had left a position in rare books at the Metropolitan Museum (and a man she'd fallen in love with) to run the store and care for her younger sisters once their father died.

Daphne was a romantic who found working in the store to be a life of drudgery and lost herself in reading escapist novels, and hoped that a handsome customer would come into the store and rescue her. 

Celia was a secret activist for birth control and worked with a group who were trying to help women take control of their bodies and prevent unwanted pregnancies. She had watched her mother become pregnant and lose the baby over and over, until she became so weakened that it eventually killed her. Celia resented her late father and blamed him since his desire was for a son to succeed him in the store. When that didn't happen, he sent Olivia to college to take on the role, but when she chose to work at the Met, he was bitterly angry with her.

The Applebaums and the other bookstore owners and related businesses were in constant fear of raids from Anthony Comstock, the originator of the pornography laws, and his minions. His thugs would come into a store, trash its stock, whether objectionable or not, damage or destroy its fixtures, and arrest the owners and workers. The store owners were banded together in defiance, but it was not enough to stop the raids.

The book explores the efforts to change the restrictive and clearly absurd nature of the laws, and put an end to the fanaticism, which eventually was overcome, but not without great suffering not just in the book trade, but by women and their families everywhere. 

Over a century later, many Americans are unaware that these restrictions existed. The same politicians who supported the Comstock Laws generally supported the changes to immigration law that would effectively close the door to most Southern and Eastern Europeans, and non-Christians, with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Asians were already suffering under the 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone Act which had completely shut them out. These actions are eerily similar to what some political factions are promoting now against certain nationalities. The evils of nativism and censorship continue to haunt us now, in the form of ICE, and actions against the free press. The circumstances described in The Sisters of Book Row may seem shocking, even unbelievable, to us but they serve as a warning against what we currently face.

Love and Duty in London – The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris

I can't imagine how such this book ever got within even being mentioned in the same sentence as the Booker Prize, unless it was as some kind of tokenism as a bone thrown to, or on the other hand, a massive rebuke of, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of London.

That community is more or less the same as the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods I lived in close proximity to in Brooklyn for over 15 years. I had plenty of opportunities to interact with and observe the women and children (no contact with the men, of course, other than occasionally on public transportation) on errands and while shopping – I often frequented stores on some of the main Jewish shopping streets (though I also went to the Italian specialty shops). For a time, I volunteered as an English conversation group leader at the Boro Park (a very observant neighborhood) branch of the Brooklyn Public Library where I was at times viewed rather suspiciously by some of the women who gathered there. 

Chani Kaufman is nineteen, and one of the middle daughters of a very large family of all girls. Her mother seems to be perpetually pregnant and exhausted and has no time for her questions as she prepares for her wedding, which was arranged in the traditional way, by a marriage broker. Chani takes instruction in how to be a good Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) wife from Rivka (originally Rebecca), the Rebbetzin (rabbi's wife). 

Rivka is struggling in her marriage, and has recently experienced, at forty-four, a massive miscarriage. Though she is tasked in her Rebbetzin role with counseling the girls on their Torah-defined (as their sect views it) responsibilities to their prospective husbands, families, and the community, she is questioning her own life choices and faith.

While Chani is described as a little unconventional compared to her friends and classmates, as she is more willful and high-spirited, she is essentially a typically innocent and obedient Haredi girl. She is ignorant and fearful of sex and what she wants to learn from Rivka is the "how's" of intercourse. Rivka will only take her answers so far, and defers to Chani's mother, who has no time or energy to explain anything, so Chani becomes ever more anxious about what she will face on her wedding night. 

Unknown to Chani, her fiancé, Baruch, at twenty, is as ignorant and fearful as she is, but of course in their tradition, there is no discussion of such things between them, and in fact, as is typical, they have met only a few times for chaste coffee "dates" before he proposes, so they hardly know each other. Baruch is also somewhat under the thumb of his very overbearing and judgmental mother, who deems Chani, whose family is very modest and undistinguished, as wrong for him. Baruch's family is far more materially successful and his mother has her eye on a very different girl. His mother connives to stop the marriage but Chani will not be deterred, and neither will Baruch, to his credit.

All of this swirls through the book, which starts as Chani awaits the wedding ceremony to begin, and is told in rapid flashbacks, alternating Chani's story with Rivka's, and interjections for Baruch and his best friend, Avromi, who is also Rivka's son. Avromi has his own story of rebellion that strongly influences Rivka's choices, though there is much more under the surface with her. 

The book abruptly concludes after Chani and Baruch's wedding night, and Rivka's surreptitious attendance of the wedding and her departure from the ceremony.

I was really astounded by the ending. It felt as though there was another entire book to follow, or at least a few more chapters. Rivka especially seemed left adrift.

The author, a secular Jewish woman living in London, has said she was inspired to write this book by teaching English for one year in a Haredi girls' school, where she was able to observe the customs and rituals of the community. She seems both highly critical and but also admiring of the Haredi beliefs and lifestyle. Many of the characters, but particularly Chani's and Baruch's mothers, the matchmaker, and Rivka's husband, Chaim, felt very clichéd and stereotypical. Clearly the author has many unanswered questions of her own but it doesn't feel like she dealt with them by writing this book. Disappointing. 

Worlds Apart: The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen

Naomi Ragen is an acclaimed American-Israeli author of many novels. According to Wikipedia, she practices Judaism according to the Modern Orthodox perspective and her writing focuses on the issues concerning the treatment and role of women in the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and Hasidic communities.

For those who are not familiar, and just in the most general of terms, Modern Orthodoxy combines observing traditional Jewish practices with secular learning, arts and humanities, equal opportunity for men and women and being self-supporting. In contrast, the Ultra-Orthodox are strict observers and interpreters of Judaism, and do not accept many aspects of secular life or contemporary social norms. Hasidic groups are part of the Ultra-Orthodox world, but have their own very specific sub-practices, and are generally rooted by the location of their European origins and by the teachings of each group's leader or founder.

There are many interpretations, degrees and types of practice in Judaism, just as there are many Christian denominations and movements.

In this novel, a large Ultra-Orthodox family in Brooklyn includes two young sisters. Rose, the older, is an outlier and eventually breaks away from the family to follow her interest in becoming a professional photographer. Pearl, the younger sister, idealized Rose, but after her departure takes the opposite route, becoming even more pious and traditional. Because of Rose's choice they are separated for decades, meanwhile marrying and becoming parents.

Eventually, conflict and resolution occur when Rivka, Pearl's daughter, runs away and seeks out Rose and her daughter Hannah for help. Ragen tells the story from the points of view of all the major female characters and includes many details of Ultra-Orthodox religious life (many of which were unfamiliar to me). While some of the plot points are not at all surprising, they are beautifully executed.

The book is very satisfying, and a fast-paced read. There is a glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew words following the text. As a novel first published in January, 2012, it makes an interesting counterpoint to Unorthodox, a memoir published in February, 2012 by Deborah Feldman, who left the Hasidic world in real life. Unorthodox was recently adapted into a multi-part Netflix series which is running now to great acclaim.

Today, as I write this, is the eve of Passover, when the First Seder would traditionally occur. Considering that we are in the height of a terrible pandemic in which we must observe social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, coronavirus, many Seders will not occur, or will be held virtually, using modern technology. My hope is that this plague will soon end and next year will be very different.