Lynda Cohen Loigman: The Matchmaker's Gift (Paperback, 2023, St. Martin's Griffin)
Paperback, 320 pages
Published Sept. 5, 2023 by St. Martin's Griffin.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel / tale. It is about love, descendancy, family, and finding one's place/ calling. Not to mention about being strong and 'doing the right thing'. The story is people with excellent characters who are struggle, and sometimes discover, their place in time and society. Kudos... a VERY worthwhile read.
Sometimes I take a break from reading my usual genres and enjoy a good historical fiction. Having fallen in love with two previous novels by Lynda Cohen Loigman I assumed The Matchmaker's Gift was a sure bet and I was right.
Told on two timelines, 1910 when a young Sara Gilkman discovers her gift, and the 1990s after her death when we meet her granddaughter Abby who is mourning her loss.
Abby has become a divorce lawyer after having watched her mother go through a messy divorce in which her father basically dumped the entire family, leaving them to struggle to meet basic needs while he flourished in his new footloose and fancy-free life.
Sara never backed down and grew into a strong woman who "sees what she sees and knows what she knows" and never let anyone change that.
After Sara's passing, Abby inherits her journals and seemingly her …
Sometimes I take a break from reading my usual genres and enjoy a good historical fiction. Having fallen in love with two previous novels by Lynda Cohen Loigman I assumed The Matchmaker's Gift was a sure bet and I was right.
Told on two timelines, 1910 when a young Sara Gilkman discovers her gift, and the 1990s after her death when we meet her granddaughter Abby who is mourning her loss.
Abby has become a divorce lawyer after having watched her mother go through a messy divorce in which her father basically dumped the entire family, leaving them to struggle to meet basic needs while he flourished in his new footloose and fancy-free life.
Sara never backed down and grew into a strong woman who "sees what she sees and knows what she knows" and never let anyone change that.
After Sara's passing, Abby inherits her journals and seemingly her gift of seeing which couples will make a perfect love match. Will she ever find her own soul mate?
I feel like I learned quite a bit about Jewish tradition from this novel. It was such a heartwarming story that this surely must be what is meant when someone says to expect the feel-good hit of the year. Loigman creates the kind of characters that make me wish I was part of their family. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction/women's fiction and anyone who just wants something lighthearted, high-spirited, and fun to read.
My thanks to St. Martins Press for the invitation to read a review copy.
