The Books of Jacob

Fascinating characters and a great writing style.

Yes, it’s almost a thousand pages long. But this sprawling magical historical novel by the Nobel Prize winner is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Following the rise and fall of the 18th-century Jewish mystic and would-be messiah, Jacob Frank, the novel paints a vivid picture of a vibrant multicultural society in Poland and beyond.

Another book of epic ambition but an unlikely subject: a messianic Jewish religious leader in 18th-century Poland.  The author’s prodigious research fuses with her writer’s ability to bring individuals as well as the movement to life.  This historical fiction lacks Grossman’s eyewitness foundations but vividly captures the values and lifestyles of its central figure, Jacob Frank, and his avid followers against the background of Catholic Poland and Ottoman Islam and will challenge modern readers with a vanished world of values and actions.