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Title: The Fairest Among Women
Author: Shifra Horn
Narrator: Liat Shnapp
Format: Unabridged
Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
Language: English
Release date: 05-08-12
Publisher: SonicBooks Ltd.
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
The Fairest Among Women by Shifra Horn tells the story of Rosa, the girl with golden curls from Katamon, growing into beautiful women of Jerusalem. A strange prophecy ensures Rosa four husbands. In a night shrouded in fear, while she was still a girl, her love to her first husband was born. Rosa, fearful of any change, will have to deal with the vicissitudes of fate time and again.
In a sweeping and astonishing novel Shifra Horn describes the woman's turbulent life: how men cannot stand up to her charms, her life in the neighborhood, the friendly crows and butterflies determining her destiny, the twin angels and mysterious girl who visit her at night. The Fairest Among Women is a fairy tale full of magic, which takes place, between reality and imagination, over the course of fifty years.
Horn's best sellers have been translated into several languages and have won literary awards.
Please note: This audiobook is in Hebrew.
Members Reviews:
Imaginative and Enjoyable
An excellent book full of vibrant colour and life in Jerusalem - amusing and imaginative - with wonderfully created characters
Definitely not a favourite
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.
Engrossing, but unsatisfying
I picked up this book because I was interested in reading about life in Israel. That is not what this book is about.
Instead, it is a portrait of the life of Rosa, the Fairest Among Women. She was born, to her mother's horror, with breasts. She grows up to be an astonishingly beautiful woman, and her beauty and sensuality are described evocatively. While Rosa's life, her many husbands, and her various escapades are interesting, most of my enjoyment of this novel came from the vivid portrayals of some fascinating characters, Rosa's mother, in particular.
