The Slaughterman’s Daughter - Yaniv Iczkovits translated by Orr Scharf SOCIAL MEDIA BLAST

I found this a quite extraordinary experience. It’s very many things but it’s all cemented together with a bouncy and energetic narrative that allows itself to be driven by a fertile imagination and a colourful cast of characters. A work of translation from the Hebrew by Orr Scharf who has done a wonderful job of retaining the whole Hebrew feel of Iczkovit’s writing and you can imagine reading it to the accompaniment of a klezmer band. 

So what’s all about ? Fanny Keisman is the daughter of a slaughter man. That is significant but I’m not telling you why! She has a sister Mende whose husband has absconded, in common with other husbands of this Motal region. What Fanny does is simple, it’s what any sister would do, isn’t it? She ups and goes searching for this good for nothing husband. Except you just don’t do that when you’re a wife and a mother yourself. It sets the town a-talking. And as events unfold so many questions are raised. One chance event allows everything to spiral out of control in a way that corrupts Fanny’s original intention. And I’m not saying any more than that with regard to specifics of the plot other than to add that the Secret Police get involved. Oh, and....... 'Blessed are the Cheesemakers'. ;)

It’s a substantial tome weighing in at over 500 pages but it still feels as if the author has packed a hell of a lot into those pages. There are stories within stories as the characters come from their Individual positions on the switchback of life to the communal positions they eventually hold within the broader narrative. They act, react and interact in sometimes comedic ways, sometimes heartbreaking ways. It’s part historical, part family saga, there’s even a fantasy flavour briefly but it all seems to celebrate the Yiddish tradition of colourful storytelling. I found myself humming 'If I Were a Rich Man' from "Fiddler on the Roof' for I thought of Topol and that larger than life exuberance that almost makes you read this book in capital letters. I also thought of Patrick Susskind and Perfume. And I found echoes of Ginsberg -  ‘Excited, I expected the greatest minds of our generation….’ There seems to be balance between the anarchic and the controlled which met in the middle to ignite a literary explosion.

As with many good books there are some quotable maxims - 

'….today we are not settling for the necessary but striving for the possible.’

‘Reality is not shaped by the choice between rich or wrong, but by opting for the necessary and the expedient…..’

Just a couple of examples that appealed to me. 

Apparently this guy has published three novels. Pulse, Adam and Sophie and An After Midnight Prayer some of which have won prizes or been shortlisted for prizes. I shall be seeking them out. This guy can write. 

I am delighted to be on the social media blast for this book, thank you to Corinna Zifko for the opportunity.  I heartily urge you to seek out what other devotees of this book have to say. 

My thanks to Quercus Books and MacLehose Press for a proof copy. I liked it. Lots.