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"A remarkable debut where varying perspectives on faith, family, and the search for meaning are explored by characters brought to life with a profound sense of empathy for what it means to be human."
"This is not an ordinary tree I am making.
"This," he said, "this is the Tree of Knowledge."
In the half-Hasidic, half-hipster Montreal neighborhood of Mile End, eleven-year-old Lev Meyer is discovering that there may be a place for Judaism in his life. As he learns about science in his day school, Lev begins his own extracurricular study of the Bible's Tree of Knowledge with neighbor Mr. Katz, who is building his own Tree out of trash. Meanwhile his sister Samara is secretly studying for her Bat Mitzvah with next-door neighbor and Holocaust survivor, Mr. Glassman. All the while his father, David, a professor of Jewish mysticism, is a non-believer.
When, years later, David has a heart attack, he begins to believe God is speaking to him. While having an affair with one of his students, he delves into the complexities of Kabbalah. Months later Samara, too, grows obsessed with the Kabbalah's Tree of Life - hiding her interest from those who love her most–and is overcome with reaching the Tree's highest heights. The neighbors of Mile End have been there all along, but only one of them can catch her when she falls.
"Starred Review. This heart-stopping narrative will keep readers glued until the very end." - Library Journal
"There are plenty of rich ideas here ripe for exploration, but there is less to grasp onto in the plot itself; the important moments seem to have happened in the spaces between the chapters, leaving the whole feeling a bit abstract. Still, the book provides a solid foundation for profitable discussions and would make a good book-club choice." - Booklist
"This level of coincidence could be deemed implausible by some readers, yet it fits in with the overarching theme of faith. A tale about the stories we let ourselves believe." - Kirkus
"Rarely does one encounter a novel as full of charm and heart as Sigal Samuel's riveting The Mystics of Mile End...A novel that takes up enormous questions - about the very nature of existence - with both profound intelligence and galloping humor. Before you crack open this book, be forewarned: You will fall in love." - Joanna Rakoff, My Salinger Year
"A remarkable debut where varying perspectives on faith, family, and the search for meaning are explored by characters brought to life with a profound sense of empathy for what it means to be human." - Simon Van Booy, author of Everything Beautiful Began After
"An absorbing tale of one family's search for meaning, The Mystics of Mile End is a beautiful and at times heartbreaking read." - Anya Ulinich, author of Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel
"This skillfully spun story forces us to look at life's toughest questions, while we marvel at its everyday beauty and heartbreak." - Lee Woodruff, author of In an Instant and Those We Love Most
"The 'Mystics' in Sigal Samuel's charming and generous book may be found near the intersection of Nicole Krauss's The History of Love, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, and Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. This wonderfully self-assured debut explores the perils of faith and doubt." - Adam Langer, Crossing California)
This information about The Mystics of Mile End was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sigal Samuel is an award-winning fiction writer, journalist, essayist, and playwright. Sigal has written and produced six plays in Montreal, Vancouver, and New York; published work in The Rumpus, Buzzfeed, The Walrus, and This Magazine; and worked as a writer and editor for The Jewish Daily Forward and The Daily Beast. Originally from Montreal, she now lives and writes in Brooklyn.
My Darling Boy by John Dufresne
The story of of a man whose son collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida.
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