Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan (Paperback)

from asxz

I wish the book had been more focused on the similarities between Irish and Jewish storytelling as the conversion storylines never really rang true to this reader and son of Irish Jews. Told in three time frames that never quite cohere to make a whole book, there was still much to like here.

from MM_Jones

The American debut for Irish author and academic Ruth Gilligan. An interesting read, each chapter, written like a short story, intertwines to illuminate a relatively unknown bit of Irish-Jewish history. I didn't find it cohesive enough, my first impulse on finishing was to reread in light of the ...

from raizel

The writing is very clever. There are five parts to the book, each with the English translation of the Jewish names of the first five books of the Bible: In the beginning, Names, And he called, In the Desert, and Words. The connections among the three stories are gradually revealed; one link is o...

from Beamis12

At the turn of the century, when Ruth was eight, her mother, father and older sister emigrated from Lithuania, heading for America and hope of am better life. After a sea journey of many days they arrive, knowing little English, they think they hear the crew yelling New York, but alas they are sa...