Queen Esther, John Irving, author; Ari Fliakos, narrator
We are living in troubled times. Yet these times were ignored by the author, supposedly because of his personal philosophy. Although the book was published after the massacre of Israeli Jews, on October 7th, carried out by the Palestinians living in Gaza, he chose to ignore it in the book. Regardless of this, most people on the left, jews included, will read the book and support it. I, on the other hand, believe that by ignoring the current events, the author is avoiding the underlying issue of continuing antisemitism. Is the book presenting an exploration of antisemitism or the author’s progressive political and social views? I had a difficult time reading this book to the end. It pulled me in two different directions, for and against it. At first, I thought it was going to be a positive presentation of the Jewish identity, coupled with an emphasis on the scourge of antisemitism that is so rampant today. Then, I thought, perhaps it was trying to explain why there is antisemitism, for which I believe there is no justification. As I read, I felt that almost every time the Judaic theme was brought up, although it would start out in a positive way, it often turned negative.
The basic story is about Esther Nacht, who was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1905, to a Jewish father and mother. On the way to America, her father died. Then, in America, her mother was murdered. Only three years old, she was stolen by antisemites and placed in an orphanage. Dr. Larch was in charge of the orphanage. He alternately saved the abandoned children or performed abortions on the unwed, underaged mothers. Time passed, and the kind and loving Winslow family hired Esther, now a teenager, as the nanny for their daughters. She left the orphanage, and they treated her as one of their own. Esther had declared that she was not religious and did not believe in G-d, but she wanted to explore her heritage and definitely identified as a Jew. They had no objections.
Honor Winslow, one of the Winslow daughters, had no desire to marry or carry her own child. Esther agreed to be her surrogate. She went to Israel, met Moshe Kleinberg, and he also agreed to father a child with her, for Honor. James Winslow was born to Esther in 1941. Essentially, he had two mothers, although Esther declared she had just birthed him and stepped away; Moshe was no longer involved at all. Honor was his mother, but Esther wanted James to be circumcised and to be told that he was a Jew. Later on in life, although he was not brought up as a Jew, he was told that he could never be anything else, but he should still hide that fact. Conversely, when James met Siegfried Holzinger in Israel, a young man who was not born a Jew, a man he knew as a boy when he was studying in Vienna, Siegfried openly declared that he was a Jew. When his mom died, he was adopted by Anneliese Eissler, James’s Jewish, German tutor. Seigfried’s birth mother, Irmgard, with whom he spent his early years, had been an open antisemite.
Esther supported Israel with her body and soul, actually giving her right arm to the cause, but she was described, in detail, as a rather non-traditional Jew. Esther had the ear of the Jewish Prime Minister of Israel, but she disliked Begin’s policies. A female soldier, who obviously supported both Israel and Esther also openly criticized the military, explaining that women worked mainly in administration and not in combat. Israel was criticized for militantly defending the country, and it was insinuated that the Israelis/Jews supported “racial segregation”, when in reality, they were providing the necessary security. Their actions were supported when Noor, a Palestinian who had been welcomed as a housekeeper into the home of a Holocaust survivor, Yaakov, (the translator for James Winslow’s book), admitted to James that they intended to annihilate Israel and the Jews from the river to the sea. (The comment brought to mind the October 7th massacre and naivete of many Jews who had once believed that they could love their neighbor and be friends with their enemies. Why would Irving, thus, choose not to mention the massacre in the book? Why would he want to leave the reader with the impression that the danger for the Jews from their enemies was possibly more benign than malignant?)
Was the idea of Esther’s tattoo simply inserted to promote the author’s political perspective on freedom and self-preservation? Was Noor’s inclusion meant to signal that Yaakov should forgive his enemies? (This author chose to essentially only cover a time in the 1900's, previous to October 7th, 2023, an event that forever changed the mindset of Israel and its Jews.) Antisemitism is not an easy subject, especially today, so I was surprised that a Jewish friend of mine said she loved the book. However, she is far left, like the author, so I can only assume she liked the leftist points of view promoted; immigration, LGBTQ+ issues, a two-state solution, and abortion are among the issues front and center. I did not like the filthy language. It was not necessary, nor was the obsession with crude sex. So, my jury is still out on this book. I like the author, but I had trouble finishing it. While it highlighted Jewish persecution, in its way, it also seemed almost to ignore or accept it.
I feel that if this is a book that is about antisemitism, it should have more loudly condemned it.
The book felt unnecessarily political. It pointed out that assimilated Jews do not support Israel as well as those that do not assimilate. Immigrants often remain loyal to their country of origin. The book even assumed that former President Reagan cruelly wanted to protect unborn babies more than living Aids victims. It emphasized that James Winslow became successful, had two moms, and was raised in a non-traditional family. These very moms insisted that he father a child to avoid the draft into the Vietnam war. They threatened to maim him themselves to prevent it, if he refused to agree. The nurse who cared for the Winslow’s was exceptional, thus paying homage to immigration. She was a super nice Mexican woman. The Palestinian housekeeper who believed they would one day annihilate the Jews had been admired by James. The author reminds the readers that the Jews were deported from Palestine as illegal immigrants. What was the justification for James to hide his Jewish background? Do Jews have to continue to remain hidden like the real Queen Esther? The contradictions and statements that seemed like half-truths left me wanting more facts for the sake of transparency and truth.
The book is often repetitive and disjointed. It created tremendous conflicts for me as I questioned the purpose of promoting a book that does not present a total or complete picture of the situation in the world that is currently facing a clear and present danger.