The Illuminated Soul - Hardcover

Stollman, Aryeh Lev

3.42

88 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573222011 ISBN 13: 9781573222013

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2002

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Fleeing Prague in the wake of the outbreak of World War II, scientist Eva Laquedem wanders the world aimlessly, drifting rootlessly from place to place until she arrives in Windsor, Canada, at the home of a devout widow with two sons, carrying the Augsburg Miscellany, a beautiful fifteen-century illuminated Hebrew manuscript. 15,000 first printing.

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About the Author:

Aryeh Lev Stollman is a neuroradiologist whose first novel, The Far Euphrates, is an American Library Association Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Book Review Recommended Book of the Year, and the winner of a Wilbur Award and a Lambda Award.

From Publishers Weekly:

Stollman's second novel, after his lauded debut, The Far Euphrates, is another thoughtful, resonant examination of Jewish life in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Now a famous neuroanatomist, Dr. Joseph Ivri reflects on his life and career. Raised in a devout Jewish household in placid, post-WWII Ontario, Joseph is obsessively studious, somber and a bit of a religious prodigy. Several painful events have contributed to his serious view of the world: his father's illness and death, the institutionalization of his best friend and the diminishing eyesight of his younger brother, Asa. A welcome addition to the household when Joseph is 14 is boarder Eva Laquedem Higashi, a beautiful, sagelike refugee from Prague via Shanghai, who is the very embodiment of the dislocated life many European Jews faced even after the Allies' victory. Eva brings with her a most precious possession: a rare 15th-century Hebrew manuscript, the Augsburg Miscellany, smuggled out of Europe at great risk and at tragic cost. The manuscript's implications prove a suspenseful factor, as its history is gradually revealed. While the book's leisurely pace and religious allusions may limit its audience, discerning readers will be intrigued by its quiet mysticism. Stollman's measured prose harbors its share of idiosyncratic nuggets, including liberal doses of Japanese folklore and an appearance by Hannah Arendt. Yet the narrative gains cohesion from Joseph's encompassing intelligence, and his world both provincial and worldly is evoked with delicate accuracy. A practicing neuroradiologist, Stollman illuminates the mysteries of life with the clear eye of a scientist and the faith of a believer. Rights sold in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

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