https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Book_of_RachelBook of Rachel - Revision history2026-07-30T20:00:14ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Book_of_Rachel&diff=492182&oldid=prevBirjesh Kumar at 11:10, 31 January 20262026-01-31T11:10:00Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Book by Esther David}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2021}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}<br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| name = Book of Rachel<br />
| image = File:Book of Rachel.jpg<br />
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| alt = <br />
| caption = First edition<br />
| author = [[Esther David]]<br />
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| country = India<br />
| language = English<br />
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| genre = [[fiction]] <br />
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| publisher = [[Penguin India]]<br />
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| published = 2007<br />
| media_type = Hardcover<br />
| pages = 280<br />
| awards = <br />
| isbn = 978-0143444534<br />
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}}<br />
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'''''Book of Rachel''''' is a novel by the Indian-Jewish author [[Esther David]]. The book won India's [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in the year 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alaka |first=Sahani |date=2019-01-13 |title=It's a balancing act to retain the Jewish ethos in a multicultural country like India: Esther David |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/its-a-balancing-act-to-retain-the-jewish-ethos-in-a-multicultural-country-like-india-esther-david-5533592/ |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Plot ==<br />
The main protagonist of the novel is an old Jewish widow named Rachel from [[Bene Israel]] community who tries to preserve Jewish culinary art<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kashi |first=Anita Rao |title=The surprising landscape of Indian Jewish food |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220424-the-surprising-landscape-of-indian-jewish-food |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref> and simultaneously tries to protect a local synagogue from local land mafia.<br />
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== Reception ==<br />
In her review, Geeta Doctor wrote for ''[[India Today]]'' "To most people it would consist one portion of [[R. K. Narayan]] [and] a dash of sentimentality from [[Tagore]]'s [[Kabuliwala (short story)|Kabuliwallah]]."<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 20, 2006 |first=Geeta |last=Doctor |title=Book review of Esther David's 'The Book of Rachel' |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/20060320-book-review-of-the-book-of-rachel-by-esther-david-785711-2006-03-20 |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><br />
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Deeptha Achar, Professor at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, [[Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda]] wrote "...the book is more ambitious. It not only portrays the community [Bene Israel] from within but also examines the pushes and pulls, economic, cultural, which impinge upon it."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portraying A Vanishing Community |url=https://www.thebookreviewindia.org/portraying-a-vanishing-community/ |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=The Book Review, Monthly Review of Important Books |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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== Awards ==<br />
* [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] 2010<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sahitya Akademi Awards |url=https://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=sahitya-akademi.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Jews live a very secretive life: Esther David on writing a book on Indian Jews' recipes 'Bene Appetit' - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/interviews/indian-jews-live-a-very-secretive-life-esther-david-on-writing-a-book-on-indian-jews-recipes-bene-appetit/articleshow/87711543.cms |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== References. ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:2007 novels]]<br />
[[Category:Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works]]<br />
[[Category:Penguin Books India books]]<br />
[[Category:Jewish novels]]<br />
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{{India-lit-stub}}</div>Birjesh Kumar