The Midwife of Venice

January 2, 2012
In her U.S. debut, Rich successfully captures the seedy side of 16th-century Venice—the Jewish ghetto, the plague, the confluence of religious and legal authority—but stumbles with unevenly rendered main characters. Hannah, a midwife, and Isaac Levi are Venetian Jews. Isaac, a trader, is captured at sea and held for ransom in Malta by the Knights of St. John. Hannah is legally forbidden to treat Christians, but as a healer—and a woman suddenly in need of money—she cannot refuse the request of a high-born Venetian to help his wife give birth. Though she delivers the baby safely, the infant faces mortal danger and Hannah’s involvement deepens, leaving her susceptible to charges of murder and witchcraft. To evade authorities, she must rely on her estranged sister, a courtesan. Meanwhile, Isaac languishes on Malta. His kidnappers sell him as a slave to a nun, who in turn sells him to a brutish peasant. Using his wits to survive (selling his writing skills and helping woo a beautiful woman), he escapes captivity, but his and Hannah’s harrowing efforts to reunite are stymied at every turn. Both characters demonstrate intelligence, but only Isaac comes to full life: his thoughts, feelings, humor, and behavior leap off the page. Agent: Beverly Slopen, the Beverly Slopen Agency.

March 1, 2012
It's one crisis after another for a 16th-century Italian-Jewish midwife and her merchant husband struggling to be reunited. Religious persecution, sexism, pestilence and murderous, scheming siblings are just a few of the hurdles confronting Hannah Levi and her husband Isaac in Canadian-based Rich's cliffhanger-strewn debut. Key events have happened before the story opens, giving the novel the feel of a sequel: Isaac, who gambled his fortune on a shipment of silk, was captured by mercenaries and is now a slave in Malta; Hannah's sister, a convert to Christianity, is working as a courtesan; and Hannah herself has become "the best midwife in Venice, Christian or Jew," having invented forceps, the use of which risks accusations of witchcraft. When a Christian nobleman implores Hannah to help deliver his son and heir, she does so in defiance of her rabbi in order to raise Isaac's ransom money. The baby is born, but the forceps are stolen by the nobleman's wicked brother from whom she must also rescue the kidnapped child before masquerading as a plague victim to avoid further threats. Meanwhile, in alternate chapters, Isaac is being starved and beaten in Malta where, after multiple plot twists, the story screeches to a breathless halt. Overstuffed is an understatement for this heavily researched but lightweight historical adventure.

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