The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

I haven't read Alice Hoffman's new book The Dovekeepers, but I will after reading the review of it in the New York Times on October 23.  The review, written by Sarah Fay, wasn't a good review, and that's one reason I want to read it.  But what really made me want to read it is this: "Hoffman reminds us that she is neither a historian nor a religious scholar and declares that the novel is meant to 'give voice' to the women who participated in the Jewish struggle, whose stories 'have often gone unwritten.'"  There have been many women characters throughout literature, but throughout most of literature these women characters were written by men, and some of those men have written well.  However, there are some things that simply wouldn't occur to most men who are writers writing from a woman's point of view. There's a lot we haven't heard from women characters; there are many stories that have gone unwritten.

Changing course a bit:  I'm sensitive to unflattering book reviews. What does it mean when a book blogger, and not a professional critic, writes that a novel is "okay"?  (Besides indicating the very amateurishness of the book reviewer?) Okay is neither good nor bad, and I'm supposing that the reviewer either couldn't figure out what to say, or she decided to be polite. I'm in the process of learning about the book blogging world, but what should I realistically expect when a book blogger lists as her favorite  genres: paranormal, fantasy, romance, chick lit, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and mysteries/thrillers?  Is it a mistake to solicit her review when I'm not sure exactly how a novel fits into her reading preferences?  (Probably) The only possible category of the blogger's that my novel could fall under is contemporary fiction.  But what does that mean when, according to Amazon, Nicholas Sparks' books fall into that category?

Changing direction again:  Here is some shameless self-promotion:  Momentary Mother by yours truly is a novel that gives voice to women whose stories are seldom written, and it gives a name to a common experience that has no name.

Update on November 6:  The Dovekeepers has been on many best seller lists for several weeks now, even with the lousy NYT review.  Hooray!