The Bone Weaver

I adored this novel. I was lost in the world of these three powerful women and the threads of their lives. Psychologically astute and beautifully written, this makes me long for more works by the talented Zackheim.

Professor Mimi Zilber is the last in a line of strong-willed, courageous Jewish women. Though her days are peopled by colleagues, students, a patient suitor, and her aging mother, the death of her lifelong best friend has cut her adrift from any true intimacy. Compelled by grief and isolation, Mimi begins reflecting on the lives of her great-grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother. As she contemplates the terrors and losses these women endured, she finally locates her kinship with them and learns that it resides in her own courage -- the courage to heal, the courage to love even her querulous and difficult mother, and the courage to allow herself be loved. Though Mimi's story derives from the bitter abuses that Jews have suffered in the past century or more, its overarching theme of pain, healing, and history applies to any person and any people. This is one of the great strengths of Victoria Zackheim's moving and well-written novel. We can all gain strength and humility by considering our forebears, making them real to us, and measuring ourselves against their accomplishments and the debts we owe to them.

A gorgeous, deeply moving exploration of grief and the stories that ultimately sustain us. Zackheim plumbs both the inner and outer worlds with great sensitivity and grace.

Victoria Zackheim's The Bone Weaver is a superbly written generational story, told from great-grandmother to grandmother to mother, about their lives and problems in struggling to survive and endure in 19th century eastern Europe despite pogroms, diseases, and other ills that befall life in the Jewish shetl. The history of past survivors helps present day descendent Mimi Zilber better understand herself, where she comes from, and how to best set her sights on the future. The Bone Weaver is a unique, powerful, moving, inspiring, and very highly recommended novel.

This is a very original story by a gifted writer. After the death of her close friend, Mimi struggles to regain her emotional equilibrium, wondering why she is having such a hard time. She hopes to find some answers by retracing her family history, especially since she comes from a long line of courageous women. What was their secret of survival? And why has she resisted intimacy in her own life?The story shifts back and forth between Mimi's present and her ancestors' past. The description of life in the shtetl is the best I have read. Mimi's journey is both emotional and analytical, and the reader empathizes with her sadness and depression. Happily, she arrives at a place of acceptance and compassion, both for herself and for her very difficult and rejecting mother. As for her relationship with Daniel, perhaps her defenses have been lowered enough for some chemistry to happen between them. At the end of the book we sense that some inner healing has occurred. It's a start, and the author does us a favor by leaving the story there. As in life, there are no guarantees for Mimi, but the story ends on a note of hope.