Creatively Imagined

Maggie Anton, author

I’ve never been one for reading non-fiction. I’ve often found the material very dry and reminiscent of the long history lessons I had to endure. A timeline of dates and important events that marks a country, a people, or an individual. What makes history interesting are the stories embedded in the events; the stories of the individuals that don’t always warrant space in the history books—the everyday folk who are sometimes overlooked. Everyone has a story, but it takes true talent to bring that story to life, to spin a story out of a life, to make others feel what a name without a body felt as if they were standing next to us today.

When you hear the name Rashi, what is the first thought that comes to mind? For some of us, it may be his wine and for others it might be his influential commentary. However, before Maggie Anton’s long and personal literary endeavor, it was probably not his daughters. I have just finished the third book in her series, and I am sad that the story is over. Now that I’ve been thrown into the lives of Rashi’s daughters, I want to see how it all turned out. I know that I could easily do a few internet searches and read various sites that chronicle the lives and contributions of Rashi’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but it’s not the same.


However, it is not just the characters that caught my attention, but the various Talmudic passages that Anton inserted and then had her characters debate that also kept my interest. I have sat through various classes where rabbis have tried to explain some of the same arguments. Usually, I end up more confused after the discussion, as my mind tried to take in the seemingly circular and contradictory statements. Anton, however, provides very simple and succinct explanations, using the character’s voices to explain debates that had previously gone over my head. These lessons of Jewish culture and observance shed new light upon current practice.

Reading Anton’s afterword, an explanation she includes at the end of the three novels, she explains what is fact and what is fiction in regards to the family and the events she depicts. Although I was personally bothered by some of the fictional details, Anton did thorough research, and tried to weave the fictional occupations and personal histories of the characters with the factual recorded history of Troyes and its people. I have to admit, that this was the first time that I have read a book and wished it was non-fiction. Until reading each afterword, every detail felt real to me and that is the true power of literature. Anton has a great ability as a storyteller, allowing the reader to experience the joys and heartaches of the characters as deeply as they would have felt them. This is a trilogy I would not only recommend to every Jewish woman, but to all Jews interested in learning more about their own relationship with Judaism.