The Fairest Among Women (Us) [Hardcover]

Shifra Horn (Author), H. Sacks (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

Acclaimed Israeli author Shifra Horn follows up her award-winning, bestselling debut novel, Four Mothers, with a new novel retelling the legendary life story of the most beautiful woman in all Jerusalem.

Rosa's life coincides with the fifty years of the state of Israel-she was born during the War of Independence in the 1940s and disappears on a cold winter night in the 1990s-and her absorbing tale is part history, part fairy tale, and part legend.

From her earliest memories of the battle over West Jerusalem in 1948 and hearing the sounds of looters dragging carpets through the streets on the morning after the Battle of Saint Simon, to her childhood in the neighborhood of Katamon, to her three marriages and eight children named after American movie stars, Rosa's life-with its triumphs and tragedies-transcends the worlds of fiction, history, and folklore all at once to become a unique literary accomplishment.

Part family saga, part political history, and part legend, readers will be as enamored of the story of Rosa and her world as all of the citizens of Jerusalem were of Rosa herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This entertaining second novel (after Four Mothers) from Israeli writer Horn opens in 1948, when widowed Angela and her young daughter, Rosa, move from the Mamilla quarter of Jerusalem to a beautiful villa in Old Katamon, recently abandoned by the Arabs. Soon the house is crowded with other refugees from the Jewish Quarter, and they move on to an apartment house in Katamon G, where Angela and Rosa both live out their lives, Angela remaining faithful to her husband to the last and Rosa taking on husband after husband. Perhaps this is the fate mother imposes upon daughter, for Angela deems Rosa "the fairest among women" and will do anything to ensure that she is, dressing Rosa in ruffled dresses and curling her blonde hair into elaborate ringlets. Moreover, Rosa who weighed 6.5 kilos at birth, is born with breasts and early on acquires an insatiable appetite is always big for her age and always attracts the attention of men. At 14, she must marry the uncle who has impregnated her. When, eight children later, he dies, she marries her childhood sweetheart, and when his devotion to Rosa kills him, she marries a painter and Holocaust survivor who insists, "All your beauty is in your size." Set against the past 50 years of Israeli history, this is narrated in the style of folk and fairy tales, with near miracles occurring on every page. Just what Horn wants the reader to make of this tapestry of tales is hard to tell, and at times she seems to lose track of her themes. But the many tales she spins are by turns sad, salty, funny and always inventive, delicious in their detail if not their design.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Best-selling Israeli author Horn's second novel (after Four Mothers) chronicles the life of Rosa, called by some "the most beautiful woman in Jerusalem" despite her large size. Born in the 1940s during the War for Independence, Rosa disappears in the 1990s, after the death of her youngest child, Angel. Her complex life story includes marriages to her uncle Joseph, owner of a cinema; to grade-school sweetheart Shraga, a dancer; and to Shmuel, an artist. Color, shape, design, superstition, and fantasy all play an important part in her life, as do her seven children; her mother, Angela (whose opinion comes freely, even from beyond the grave); and her childhood women friends. Realism and fantasy mix nicely in this sometimes surreal tale, with absorbing results, especially because it follows Rosa and her family over 50 years. Horn's magnificent eye for detail makes Rosa a sympathetic, yet often bizarre heroine. You don't always like her but you are always fascinated by her. Recommended. Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, MD
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312265905
• ISBN-13: 978-0312265908
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,752,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not a favourite, February 26, 2002

By 

"capricornlady" (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fairest Among Women (Us) (Hardcover)

Rosa is a larger than life woman both physically and spirtually. Life begins in the Arab-vacated section of West Jerusalem. With her mother and uncle she shares a house with other inhabitants; other refugees like themselves from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and Holocaust survivors from Europe.

Impregnated at 14 by her uncle, who then became her first husband, she had 8 children by him. A firmly held belief during childhood prophecised she would have 4 husbands. Much to the delight of the community this prophecy appeared to be coming true. The premise sounded interesting, but for me the book was a huge disappointment.

The characterization of Rosa came across as obese and lazy having one child after another. The story had no depth, no direction and wandered aimlessly from one frivolous and meaningless non-event to the next. Her children, her husbands, her friends were all fleetingly mentioned - there were no characterizations -they were just there.

Rosa is depicted as this beautiful sexual woman that men lusted after and who unbelievably grew more beautiful with age - even as a grandmother. When she had put on so much weight that the doors in her house had to be widened to enable her to get through them, she still remained this passionately beautiful being! During her various wedding ceremonies, her husbands' erections were evident as were the rabbis - Ugh!

On numerous occasions I put the book down in frustration - the storyline was going everywhere, but nowhere. I found the writing mechanical - perhaps the story was lost in the translation. It was a chore to get through this book and I only finished it because I didn't have anything else to read.

I do not recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And who WAS the fairest among women?, February 13, 2003

By 

clarkann (Ramona, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fairest Among Women (Us) (Hardcover)

I liked this book. As I riffled through the pages, it felt as if I were drifting along in a slow moving stream of life. It was warm and subtle and intriguing. When you are finished reading the book, answer this question: who WAS the fairest among women? Was it Rosa or her daughter, Angel? My favorite scenes in the book were with the gallery of portraits on the bedroom wall. If you liked "The Magician's Assistant" you'll like this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, January 4, 2003

By 

"catkin007" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fairest Among Women (Us) (Hardcover)

Although The Fairest Among Women held my attention until the end, I felt disappointed by the book. The book was entirely centred on its main character, Rosa, with all other characters peripheral and little attention paid to the setting of post-war Israel. The book had an unusual style - I wouldn't describe it as magic realism but it was certainly not a believable, realistic story either. I found it hard to accept that the grossly obese Rosa, "the fattest woman in Israel", could also be so incredibly beautiful. The author appeared to be trying to make Rosa a character who was extreme in every way, but it just seemed bizarre ... maybe I didn't get the whole concept of the book. I thought the premise of the book was good but I did not enjoy the way it was executed.