Review of "The Matchmaker's Gift: A Novel" by Lynda Cohen Loigman

In this dual timeline story, Sara Glikman and her granddaughter Abby both feel compelled to match people with their bashert (the Jewish term for soulmate).

In 1910, ten-year-old Sara Glikman and her family are on the deck of a steamship, emigrating from eastern Europe to New York City. Sara's older sister Hindel, bereft about the young man she left behind, can't stop crying.



Sara is sent to get a handkerchief for Hindel, and seeing a young male passenger cleaning his glasses, Sara asks to borrow his. When the amiable fellow - named Aaron - agrees, Sara sees a 'mystical' golden strand of light connecting him to Hindel.



Three months later Hindel and Aaron are married in a synagogue in New York. This is Sara's first love match, and foreshadows her gift as a matchmaker. However, Sara's career as 'cupid' - which she continues as she grows up - is far from straightforward.



In the early 1900s there are about a million Jewish people in New York City, many of them anxious to retain the customs and culture of their European shtetls.


Immigrant Jewish neighborhood on New York's lower east side in the early 20th century

One Jewish tradition, matchmaking, is almost always done by men called shadchanim, who rely on the profession to make a living. The shadchanim are not about to countenance an interloper, especially a young unmarried girl, taking the food out of their families' mouths. So, when the shadchanim suspect Sara is making matches, they loudly complain and proceed to spy on Sara and follow her, to insure she's not facilitating weddings.


Shadchanim

Still, when Sara sees a golden light between a man and woman, she feels compelled to get them together, even if she has to do it surreptitiously.



Thus, when Sara senses a glimmer between her 'old maid' schoolteacher Miss Perelman and a greengrocer named Sam, Sara encourages Miss Perelman to shop at Sam's store, citing the fresh produce and good prices. And voila, a match is made.



However Sara gets no fee for being a secret shadchante (female matchmaker), and can't contribute much money to the family, which includes Sara's parents and three brothers, as well as Hindel and Aaron and their little children.



As Sara gets older, she's determined to get a college education and to practice her matchmaking vocation in the open, for appropriate compensation. The results provide an interesting glimpse into Jewish customs of the time.



Sara's story alternates with that of her granddaughter Abby, which takes place in 1994. Abby is an attorney working at a New York law firm called Berenson and Gold, which specializes in divorce. Abby decided on this profession because her parents breakup when Abby was twelve left her mother struggling, while her cheating father lived the high life. So Abby resolved to help women get a fair shake in divorce situations.



Abby's boss, Diane Berenson, is a hard-driving woman, and Abby is expected to put in long hours and follow Diane's instructions to the letter.



Abby is at work one morning when she learns her grandmother Sara died peacefully in her sleep. Tears stream down Abby's face as she thinks about her loss.



Fourteen years ago - after Abby's parents split up - grandma Sara returned from her retirement in Florida to help raise Abby and her sister. When Abby became a divorce lawyer, Sara acknowledged the need for the profession, but noted that all the couples Sara herself joined stayed together. Then Sara urged Abby to remember all the stories Sara had related, and observed, "Who knows? Maybe you'll make a few love matches of your own."



Sara left some boxes for Abby, which contain Sara's journals for the last eighty years. The notebooks have details of Sara's matches, along with relevant newspaper clippings, wedding notices; etc. Abby becomes fascinated with the entries, which are a vivid reminder of Sara's work.


Wedding picture of a Jewish couple

Soon after Sara's funeral, Diane Berenson assigns Abby new cases: one client is rich, middle-aged fashion designer Victor Étoile, who's engaged to 25-year-old model Nicole Blanchard, and needs a prenup;



another client is wealthy real estate and hotel mogul Evelyn Morgan - who's divorcing her fourth husband.



As Abby is working on these cases, she sees unexpected 'golden lights' connecting various people, and - like grandma Sara - Abby feels compelled to take steps. This causes repercussions in Abby's job and life.

The story provides a vivid picture of New York's Jewish immigrant community in the early 20th century, with descriptions of overcrowded apartment buildings with one bathroom per floor; young couples having child after child; religious rituals; street peddlers; an aromatic pickle store; knish shops; and more. (Some such shops still remain, and I've enjoyed knishes from Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery in New York. 🙂)


Commerce on New York's Lower East Side in the early 20th century


Knish Bakery


Potato Knishes

In an interview, author Lynda Cohen Loigman observed that she believes in soulmates, saying "I don't think everybody has one. I think there are some people in this world that you just really connect with." This is reflected in the book which has a whiff of magical realism and leans toward 'true love' and 'soulmates.' This is a bit too romantic for my taste, but I enjoyed the novel, which has a compelling story and interesting characters. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace" by Lorenzo Carcaterra

In this second book in the Nonna Maria series, the shrewd Italian grandmother helps catch two law-breakers: a thief and a murderer. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

Nonna Maria, who lives on the beautiful Italian island of Ischia, is in her seventies, walks with a slight limp, keeps her thick white hair in a bun, likes espresso coffee and white wine, loves to cook, and dines only at her own table - near a photo of her deceased husband Gabriel. Nonna Maria is always happy to help her friends, who include most of the locals on Ischia.

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Ischia

Nonna Maria's first concern develops when a fine young man named Federico Castagna confides that he may have hit a pedestrian the night before, on a curvy road shrouded by thick fog. Federico felt a bump and got out of the car, but it was too dark to see anything. Today Federico learned a woman's body was found, and he fears he may have killed her.



Nonna Maria consults Captain Paolo Murino of the carabinieri, who divulges that the dead woman, who's unidentified, was strangled.



This lets Federico off the hook but leaves Nonna Maria with another problem. Nonna Maria thinks she may know the victim, and has an idea about the motive for the crime. So Nonna Maria sets out to 'investigate' via her wide network of friends and acquaintances, which encompasses all of Italy.

Nonna Maria's other problem involves her goddaughter Loretta, who works as a cleaner at the Grand Hotel Excelsior.



A guest at the hotel, Arianna Conte, claims a very valuable necklace was stolen from her room, and she insists Loretta, who attends to Conte's room, took it.



Loretta is suspended from her post while the carabinieri investigate, but Nonna Maria, who's confident her goddaughter is innocent, sets out to resolve the matter herself. It seems no one in the hotel or on the island has seen Conte wearing such a necklace, and Nonna Maria suspects the woman is lying.

As Nonna Maria makes her inquiries she chats with people all around Ischia. Thus we get to meet a variety of residents, including: taxi-van driver Giovanni, who rescues dogs and cats;



restaurateur Gennaro Rossi, a chef who owns the most popular eatery in Ischia;



Il Presidente, a former thug who's become Nonna Maria's friend and protector;



the strega, who tells fortunes for a living;



Federica D'Amato, the medical examiner; and more.



The novel comes to a satisfactory conclusion, with a cliff-hanger that promises a third installment in the series.

The story is enhanced by descriptions of the sights and sounds of Ischia, and depictions of tempting Italian delicacies. Nonna Maria loves to prepare food for her friends, and these treats include panini with breaded chicken, roasted peppers, and broccoli rabe; peppers stuffed with breadcrumbs, anchovies, olives, parsley, and capers; eggplant parmigiana; and more.


Chicken Panini


Stuffed Peppers


Eggplant Parmigiana

I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more Nonna Maria adventures.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lorenzo Carcaterra, and Bantam Books for a copy of the manuscript.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Missing Chapter: A Nero Wolfe Mystery" by Robert Goldsborough

Nero Wolfe is a legendary fictional private investigator created by Rex Stout. When Stout died, the series was continued by Robert Goldsborough. This is the 7th Nero Wolfe book by Goldsborough, and - like the rest of the series - can be read as a standalone.

Nero Wolfe is an eccentric, obese private detective who lives and works in a brownstone in New York City. Wolfe almost never leaves his house; spends four hours a day tending his orchids; has a chef who prepares delicious gourmet meals; loves beer; and would rather read books than take new cases.



Wolfe employs Archie Goodwin as his assistant, legman, and gadfly - a smartmouth who prods Wolfe to 'go to work' when the bank account is running low.



Stout's original Nero Wolfe books are set in the 1930s but this story is updated to the 1990s, and the characters have personal computers, watch David Letterman, etc. In this mystery, Wolfe and Archie look into the death of a writer - a character who seems to be inspired by Robert Goldsborough himself.

*****

Charles Childress is a 'continuator', a novelist who carries on writing Darius Sawyer's 'Sergeant Barnstable mysteries' after Sawyer dies.



Some Barnstable fans love the books and others examine every word with a fine tooth comb to ferret out any differences from Sawyer's original series.

Childress is a boastful, arrogant, irascible fellow who dumps his editor Keith Billings for making 'capricious changes' to Childress' manuscripts;



fires his agent Franklin Ott for not negotiating an 80 percent raise with the publisher;



and fumes against book critic Wilbur Hobbs for penning bad reviews of Childress' mysteries.



Childress even goes public with his ire, excoriating the agent and editor in the influential Manhattan Literary Times. Childress goes so far as to accuse critic Hobbs of being on the take, of accepting gifts and money to write rave reviews.

Childress seems to have better luck with the fairer sex, since he's engaged to beautiful Debra Mitchell.....



....and is cordial with fellow author Patricia Royce, whom he allows to use his laptop on occasion.



When Childress is found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment with a bullet in his head, the police mark it as a suicide. However Childress' publisher Horace Vinson believes the writer was murdered, and Vinson hires Nero Wolfe to ferret out the culprit.



Wolfe and Archie interview all the persons of interest, and the editor, agent, and critic all admit they disliked Childress, but insist they didn't kill him. As for the women, Childress' fiancée Debra and his colleague Patricia Royce point fingers at each other.

Archie even takes a trip to Childress' home town in Indiana, to see if anyone there wanted the writer dead. This excursion unearths another possible suspect, a woman who feels Childress done her wrong.



As all this is going on, the elevator in Wolfe's brownstone, which the detective uses to ascend to the orchid greenhouse on the roof, breaks. The lift must be replaced, and the attendant banging and clatter annoy Wolfe no end.



Of course Wolfe exposes the murderer in his usual style, by gathering all the suspects in his office, along with Police Inspector Cramer and Sergeant Purley Stebbins, and announcing who done it.





The plot is engaging enough, but a big part of the series' fun lies with Archie's snarky remarks and the delicious meals served by Wolfe's Swiss chef Fritz Brenner (you'd better not call him a Frenchman 🙂).



The yummy dishes include things like cassoulet de castelnaudary, flounder poached in white wine, and papaya custard.


Cassoulet de Castelnaudary


Flounder Poached in White Wine


Papaya Custard

I enjoyed the book and recommend it to Nero Wolfe fans.

Rating: 3.5 stars