Review
'Some of the women (the story is mostly told from a female perspective), could have been created by Jane Austen or Mrs Gaskell. Snobby, comic Mrs Levy, Chani s future mother-in-law, is furious that her 20-year-old son Baruch (Hebrew for Blessed), is marrying beneath him. His bride, 19-year-old Chani, is one of eight daughters of a financially strained rabbi and his exhausted pudding of a wife. Worse, Chani is a girl with a mind of her own.' --Sue Fox, Sunday Express
Well-written, unapologetic, unvarnished and undisguised. --Gerald Jacobs, Jewish Chronicle
Harris evokes the community s insular nature, she also suggests the sense of comfort and belonging that it confers, offering a sympathetic window on a way of life little glimpsed in contemporary fiction. --David Evans, Financial Times
In a narrative that weaves the viewpoints of the bride and groom, it is the third story which provides the emotional and thematic complexity needed to raise the story to a Booker contender. It is the story of Rivka, a rebbetzin, whose ambitious husband, Chaim, marries the couple. --Danuta Kean, The Independent
Judaism may be the setting but Eve touches on universal themes. It's about being true to ourselves when even our closest friends seem at odds with our chosen lifestyle. It's about forging a set of values when everything around us, locally and globally, seems to encourage the antithesis. It's about being human. It's about being alive and I adored it. --Ani Johnson, The Bookbag
'Humour abounds, but so do pathos and anger. Harris s eye for suburban social mores is wickedly acute, as is her evident relish in describing both the sensual life and its absence.' --Catherine Taylor, The Guardian
'This novel is beautifully done and highly recommended.' --Victoria Moore, Daily Mail
Well-written, unapologetic, unvarnished and undisguised. --Gerald Jacobs, Jewish Chronicle
Harris evokes the community s insular nature, she also suggests the sense of comfort and belonging that it confers, offering a sympathetic window on a way of life little glimpsed in contemporary fiction. --David Evans, Financial Times
In a narrative that weaves the viewpoints of the bride and groom, it is the third story which provides the emotional and thematic complexity needed to raise the story to a Booker contender. It is the story of Rivka, a rebbetzin, whose ambitious husband, Chaim, marries the couple. --Danuta Kean, The Independent
Judaism may be the setting but Eve touches on universal themes. It's about being true to ourselves when even our closest friends seem at odds with our chosen lifestyle. It's about forging a set of values when everything around us, locally and globally, seems to encourage the antithesis. It's about being human. It's about being alive and I adored it. --Ani Johnson, The Bookbag
'Humour abounds, but so do pathos and anger. Harris s eye for suburban social mores is wickedly acute, as is her evident relish in describing both the sensual life and its absence.' --Catherine Taylor, The Guardian
'This novel is beautifully done and highly recommended.' --Victoria Moore, Daily Mail
Product Description
19 year-old Chani lives in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community of North West London. She has never had physical contact with a man, but is bound to marry a stranger. The rabbi’s wife teaches her what it means to be a Jewish wife, but Rivka has her own questions to answer. Soon buried secrets, fear and sexual desire bubble to the surface in a story of liberation and choice; not to mention what happens on the wedding night…
