There's a review of TOYPD in today's Jewish Chronicle, written by Robert Low, European Bureau Chief of Reader's Digest. This is funny because if you were playing the game of match the book to the reviewer, I suspect even the most accomplished players of the game might not have come up with this particular match - and if anybody at the JC is reading this, I'm curious to know how the match was made. But it's a lovely review (for which many grateful thanks!), which you will have to buy the paper or subscribe online to read in whole.
However, he raises the God issue again, just like my Simon and Schuster editor, Kerri Sharp.
Low writes:
The one thing that is missing is religion. Though Rabinovitch is clearly an observant, Orthodox Jew, there is little reference to this side of her life in relation to her illness, beyond such things as querying whether she should fast on Tisha B'Av. It would have been interesting to know whether she had found any solace in religion during such an ordeal.
"OK, well that," Anthony said, reading this bit of the review to himself, "was written by somebody who doesn't know you."
I suppose I wonder exactly what lies behind this fascination with how religious people cope with illness. It comes up quite regularly - American doctors telling me that people who know they are being prayed for deal with their illness better than others. For the record I don't believe God sent me this illness, nor do I believe that God will cure it for me. These things happen for physiological reasons we don't yet know - but will one day work out - and the cure will be discovered too.
And now, you know, it's erev erev erev Pesach and the last thing religious Jews like me have time for is discussions of religious faith! Chag Sameach everybody.
