The Matchmaker's Gift / Lynda Cohen Loigman
1,001 Days of Awesome Reads - Day 206
Shana Tova to any readers who celebrate Rosh Hashanah!
I wish you a year full of peace, prosperity, love and joy - and an abundance of great books!
I thought today was the perfect day to write about THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT, once of my favorite reads so far this year! (and this cover is absolutely swoon-worthy!)
The book follows two characters and timelines: Sara Glikman, a Jewish immigrant who settles in New York with her family in the early 1900s and who has a (somewhat magical) gift for matchmaking; and her granddaughter, Abby, who is grieving Sara’s recent death in 1994. She’s working as an associate attorney for a renowned divorce lawyer when she discovers Sara’s notebooks, and the many stored details of her grandmother’s history, coupled with some unexpected experiences with friends and clients, inspire her to re-examine where she’s putting her talent and energy.
There’s an epic feel to every part of this book, from the struggles Sara’s family faces to survive—especially once her father falls sick—to the sexism and misogyny Sara confronts when she begins to use her gift to help people find their soul mates.
As for Abby, she begins to question her choices when the high profile clients she works with need more help and nurturing than her boss wants her to give, and when doing the right thing puts her in hot water, she’ll need to lean in to some of the lessons her grandmother left for her in the notebooks, and their sweet, shared memories.
Beautifully written, with characters we truly root for on every page, while they grow stronger, bolder and more sure of who they’re meant to be.
A gorgeous, extraordinary read, and a perfect book to pick up during this sacred Jewish season.
Happy reading! xoxo
Check out Lynda’s site : lyndacohenloigman.com
and explore the books at Amazon:
The Matchmaker's Gift | Lynda Cohen Loigman
THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT
Is finding true love a calling or a curse?
Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.
Two generations later, Sara’s granddaughter, Abby, is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney, representing the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals recording the details of Sara’s matches. But among the faded volumes, Abby finds more questions than answers. Why did Abby’s grandmother leave this library to her and what did she hope Abby would discover within its pages? Why does the work Abby once found so compelling suddenly feel inconsequential and flawed? Is Abby willing to sacrifice the career she’s worked so hard for in order to keep her grandmother’s mysterious promise to a stranger? And is there really such a thing as love at first sight?
You can see all the books I’ve written about so far in my 1,001 Days of Awesome Reads project, which launched 2/14/22:
booksandfriends.substack.com/archive
About Bobbi Dumas
Hi!
I’m Bobbi and I read, review, blog about and advocate for fiction written by women. I’ve written for NPR, Barnes & Noble and The New York Times Book Review, and wrote over 600 reviews for Kirkus and also penned the weekly Kirkus Romance (and Women’s Fiction) blog for a few years before parting ways with them in 2020. I believe that romance novels are (mostly) by women, for women, about women and of interest to women, and offer more hope, female agency and positive change than any other literary genre.
Women write great books, yet typically get less respect (and less review ink) than men do. While I do occasionally read books by men, I try to spotlight books by women and hold them up for the attention and appreciation they deserve.
I hope you’ll follow this space and find great new books to dive into.
Let’s read! xoxo
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