Just Another Story about a Rabbi's Daughter

THE RABBI'S DAUGHTER
by REVA MANN

There are certain books I don't expect to like, but I read them anyway because someone insisted. The Rabbi's Daughter is one of those books. The title alone throws me off. Not my sort of thing at all, but I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It got a little 'ok- is this almost over?' toward the end, but the story was informative, well told and interesting.

The story is about... drumroll please... the rabbi's daughter! Knowing this pretty much gives away most of the story. I most obviously knew what I was getting myself into before starting this book. I knew the story would be about Judaism, I knew that the rabbi's daughter would either love her religion and embrace it and the story would be about how great her life is (which was unlikely), or it would be about her rebellion against her family and her religion and how that affected her, her family, her life, her community. This was predictably what the story ended up being about. Reva, the main character, struggles against her identity, only she doesn't stray to far.

There are so many unsurprising events in this linear narrative, it kind of annoyed the crap out of me. However, it didn't deter me from reading and finishing the novel, so I guess that counts for something. There is a lot to be learned about the Jewish religion, stuff you don't learn in school, so that's cool. Also, the plot might not be so captivating, but the bigger topics that the book hit on are the questions that many face when talking about religion. And so, for that, the book was all right.

It was not poorly written, nor was it a bad story. The Rabbi's Daughter was neither here nor there. It was simple. That's for sure. It didn't touch me, or move me, or bring me to tears. It didn't make me laugh and it didn't make me wanna say, 'You gotta read this.'  It was just kind of there. I read it on vacation, and so it allowed my mind to go limp a little. That was nice I guess.

I feel bad saying something sub-par about a book. Authors try so hard and in this particular case, the story is autobiographical, so it is even closer to the writer's heart. There is not much she could have done to make her life more interesting for the novel, short of taking creative liberties (which wouldn't have been the worst idea!).

Has anyone else read this book? What do you think? Maybe I am wrong and I missed something, or perhaps I don't care much for religion so I had a bias from the get-go.

Tell me your thoughts.