What do readers think of The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish? Write your own review.

A good writer knows what to include, and, more importantly, what to omit. This historical novel is certainly well researched, and the theme (of a woman who pursues the intellectual life denied to most women in her time) is solid. However, the book badly needed editing that it did not receive. The writer tells you what happened and then lets the 17th century characters tell you again...and again. There are unnecessary plot devices (a letter sent to someone that the writer of the letter knows has long been dead). There is one lulu of a possible historical coincidence that is completely superfluous and cheapens all that preceded it.

Years ago publishing houses employed editors who guided writers, insisted on necessary cuts, and restructured works. Cost-cutting led to downsizing of editing departments, and overwritten books like this with unbelievable, unnecessary plot fillips are the result.

I am not afraid of thick books, it usually means big plot and I'm okay with hanging in to the very end. This became a laborious, tedious journey and I was extremely tired of the whole book by the time I closed it for the final time. Although it had some redeming story line it did not have enough to keep the enthusiasm going for the entire story. I usually enjoy historical novels.

It is very obvious that a great deal of careful research was done by the author, into both the renewal of England"s Jewish community and the Restoration of the monarchy in the late 1650s. Sadly the story that she set during these momentous times, along with an adjacent story set in modern times does not work. The characters, particularly those in the year 2000, are not believable. Nor is the ending which relies heavily on silly coincidences. The book is too long and much tighter editing would have helped greatly as the author is fond of flowery similes and pretentious and often precious descriptions.

Seldom will I not complete reading a book, however after plowing through 200 pages of this 500 page book, I decided to put it aside. The subject matter of the book, history, feminism, Jewish culture is appealing. The story gets lost in the flowery prose, long sentences and poorly edited manuscript. Before publication, I strongly suggest that the book length be edited to about 300 pages and extraneous material that does nothing to add to the essence of the work be eliminated. Sorry for the harsh words, but I felt I must be honest-- not fit for publication in its current form.