Rashi's Daughters, Book II

The engrossing historical series of three sisters living in eleventh-century Troyes, France, continues with the tale of Miriam, the lively and daring middle child of Salomon ben Isaac, the great Talmudic authority. Having no sons, he teaches his daughters the intricacies of Mishnah and Gemara in an era when educating women in Jewish scholarship was unheard of. His middle daughter, Miriam, is determined to bring new life safely into the Troyes Jewish community and becomes a midwife. As devoted as she is to her chosen path, she cannot foresee the ways in which she will be tested and how heavily she will need to rely on her faith. With Rashi’s Daughters, author Maggie Anton brings the Talmud and eleventh-century France to vivid life and poignantly captures the struggles and triumphs of strong Jewish women.“The amount of learning Maggie Anton weaves into her vividly imagined romantic story is amazing. The reader plunges into the world of medieval Ashkenazic tradition, truly becoming a student of the great Salomon ben Isaac.”—Sylvie Weil, Professor Emerita, Hunter College, CUNY, and author of Les Vendanges de Rachi and My Guardian Angel