The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem
Gabriela and her mother, the beautiful Luna, have never connected. Desperate to understand her mother and their family’s troubled history, Gabriela pieces together the fragmented stories of several generations of women, including the curse that prevents them from being loved.
Exquisitely rich in history and detail, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is set in three eras: the Golden Age of Hollywood, WWII, and the 1970s. Gabriela, our main narrator, just wants to know why her mother doesn’t love her—or anyone, really. Luna is gorgeous but spiteful and rude, and the majority of the story is actually about her. We also learn about Grandmother Rosa and how the curse arose among the women in the family. The pages are layered with both Jewish and family histories that work together seamlessly and, though slow in spots, there’s enough intrigue there to keep pushing you forward. Eventually the story does circle back to Gabriela, who still struggles to understand her family, but eventually makes a life for herself. I liked what we see of Gabriela and wished there were more to her story. I also liked Gabriela’s Aunt Rachelika, Luna’s much more affectionate sister. Rosa was interesting as well, and I found the history surrounding Israel in those decades insightful, but Luna was a difficult character to the end. I could not like her, which is perhaps testament to how well she was written. In all, this was a poignant and intriguing book.
