The Beauty Queen Of Jerusalem by Risa Yishai-Levi– 372 pages
Book Blurb:
Gabriela’s mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though her famed beauty and charm seem to be reserved for everyone but her daughter. Ever since Gabriela can remember, she and Luna have struggled to connect. But when tragedy strikes, Gabriela senses there’s more to her mother than painted nails and lips. Desperate to understand their relationship, Gabriela pieces together the stories of her family’s previous generations—from Great-Grandmother Mercada the renowned healer, to Grandma Rosa who cleaned houses for the English, to Luna who had the nicest legs in Jerusalem. But as she uncovers shocking secrets, forbidden romances, and the family curse that links the women together, Gabriela must face a past and present far more complex than she ever imagined.
My Review: 2.5 stars
I was so excited to read the The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem as it was getting a good amount of literary hype. Sadly, I was disappointed at this disjointed story of several generations of family.
I started it and got immediately sucked in; however halfway through I was finding myself bored and quizzically wondering why the plot meandered so much. With that said, there were definitely some interesting historical nuggets in this book. I enjoyed the history of this Sephardic family who originally fled to Jerusalem after they were kicked out of Spain in the late 15th century. The Spanish/Hebrew combo was interesting to me.
Although it was filled with equal parts superstition, romance, curses, prejudices, lust, secrets and family drama, the pieces didn’t fit together in a readable way.
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