Lovingkindness [Paperback]

Anne Roiphe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

From the acclaimed author of "Fruitful" comes a novel of the love between a mother and daughter. Annie Johnson has worked hard to raise her daughter, Andrea. She is shocked, therefore, when 22-year-old Andrea calls from Israel and announces that she has joined an extreme right-wing Orthodox Jewish group and will be seeking an arranged marriage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Roiphe's (Up the Sandbox) intriguing new novel takes on the issues of religious fundamentalism, parent-child relationships, feminism and other challenges of contemporary life. Narrator and single parent Annie Johnson is a political scientist and teacher, and an assimilated Jew. She is appalled when her alienated, rebellious daughter decides to live in the narrow community of an Israeli orthodox yeshiva, which to Annie represents regression and fanaticism. In the sanctuary of the Bruria Yeshiva, Andrea claims to have found spiritual peace and a direction for her life, even to the point of accepting an arranged marriage. Annie, who is of a generation that looks to psychiatrists rather than to God for answers, and whose aspirations for her daughter stressed intellectual accomplishment and independence, is forced to examine her own cherished beliefs and values. She is helped in this search by a series of dreams in which an old rabbi poses symbolic riddles. Though initially effective, the dream device is overworked and the narrative is robbed of momentum. In other respects, however, the story rings true, especially in reflecting the heartache that ensues when a child repudiates parents, culture and homeland. By turns caustic and lyrical, the novel gives full expression to the ambiguities of the situation, adding a modern dimension to the age-old debate between faith and reason. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Roiphe's first novel in a decade seems a natural extension of the feminism of her early novels and the self-examination of her Jewishness in Generation Without Memory. New Yorker Annie Johnson, widowed during pregnancy, taught her daughter Andrea about options for women and has watched her become an uncontrollable punk doper whose future at 22 is questionable. Then Andrea finds peace and a new life in a fundamentalist yeshiva in Israel, where she renounces secularism and independence. Annie, horrified, takes action when an arranged marriage is proposed and is forced to make painful choices herself for the sake of her daughter's happiness. Heartfelt in its examination of the mother-daughter bond, but a bit weighty with its pervasive religious atmosphere; likely to be limited in appeal. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Warner Books ed edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446673889
• ISBN-13: 978-0446673884
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #827,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, August 31, 2000

By 

Marcy L. Thompson (Sammamish, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lovingkindness (Paperback)

This book shines. It is a book about the love between a mother and daughter, about the obstacles on the path to perfect understanding between them, about the ways in which children disappoint and delight their parents. Both the mother and the daughter are completely believable. It is impossible to predict what will happen to them after the book's end.

The writing is wonderful, almost lyric. The characters are fully drawn. The plot is entirely organic, with no disruptive elements. The story is firmly rooted in the second half of the 20th century, in the evolution of American Jewry and the haredi response to it. The booked moved me deeply. There is nothing to disappoint in this book, except that it ends.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tender, provocative exploration of feminism and Judaism, August 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lovingkindness (Paperback)

Both a heartwarming and heart-wrenching novel of a mother-daughter relationship in turmoil. Sometimes Annie's '60's feminism is exasperating in light of the difficult teen years her daughter experienced. Then again, one can sympathize with a mother who only wants what is best for her only child. This novel is a beautifully written and tender exploration in the relationship of these two. It also incorporates so much of the Jewish American agenda of the past thirty years. An excellent read!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, June 5, 2001

By 

K. Schwarting "rivkah12" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lovingkindness (Paperback)

I began this book with a great sense of anticipation, but ultimately found myself let down.

The novel traces the relationship between a liberal feminist mother, Annie, and her daughter Andrea. Like many mother/daughter narratives, the early part of the novel traces the failures of both--Annie's attempts to impress her own beliefs upon her daughter, and her daughter's rebellion from them.

Andrea's character makes a 180-degree turn in the middle of the novel, just as the reader gets used to her being a hostile, ungrateful, screw-up. Why does she become an ultra-Orthodox Jew? It's a fascinating question, but the book didn't ultimately pay off for me.

For me, the book's major downfall is the initial set-up of the characters. Andrea was, as noted above, too unlikeable to grab my sympathy or my interest to find out exactly what has become of her.

I note that my feelings are decidedly in the minority--most reviewers have liked this book much better than I did. For my opinion, though, there are much better narratives about Jewish mother/daughter relationships and modern Jewish literature in general.