some original drawings created for the
novel, Santlofer develops a mystery-
about a slasher who starts with paint-
ings from America's most celebrated
artistic era, the New York School of the
1940s and '50s, which included artists
like Jewish painter Mark Rothko, and
moves on to people.
Santlofer's earlier books include
Color Blind and The Death Artist.

Biblical times are revisited with
Wisdom's Daughter (St. Martin's
Press; $24.95), a novel about King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Written by New York librarian India
Edghill, the book ultimately explores
the strong ties among women in a
patriarchal world.
The author, who provides a list of
characters and family trees for refer-
ence, involves her characters with dra-
matic dialogue to make the people
come to life.

Michigan writer Lev Raphael adds
to his Nick Hoffman mystery series
with Tropic of Murder (Perseverance
Press, John Daniel & Co.; $13.95). In
this edition, Professor Hoffman con-
fronts homicide and anti-Semitism in
the Caribbean.
Raphael, who has written for many
Jewish publications, is a reviewer for
Jerusalem Report and The Forward and
has just released a memoir, Writing a
Jewish Life (Carroll & Graf; $14.94)..

Former Michigander Aaron
Hamburger moves from short stories
to novels with
Faith for
Beginners
(Random House;
$23.95). A family
goes on a mission
to Israel, where a
mother (a
respectable sub-
urban housewife
from Michigan)
and her rebellious college son gain
understanding into their emerging
offbeat selves.
Hamburger, a winner of the Rome
Prize who has taught writing at New
York's Columbia University, places .
developing characters in an atmos-
phere of danger.

Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice
gets new perspective with Grace
Tiffany's The Turquoise Ring (Berkley
Publishing Group; $22.95). Shiloh ben
Gozan, the central character, flees the
Spanish Inquisition to live openly as a
Jew in Venice and encounters drama
through a ring that is hidden, stolen,

traded, lost and found again.
The ring become entangled in the
fortLines of five women and provides
structure for mixing feminine
lifestyles into the story.

COOKBOOKS

Zucchini latkes, salmon latkes, cauli-
flower and carrot latkes and sweet cot-
tage cheese latkes -- as well as classic
potato latkes — are among the
Chanukah dishes celebrated in Jewish
Holiday Feasts
owl RNA! *lags,/
(Chronicle
Books; $9.95),.
Written by
Louise Fiszer
and Jeannette
Ferrary, who
have collaborat-
ed on other
cookbooks, this delightfully illustrated
small edition moves traditional
recipes into contemporary living and
includes health-conscious treats that
also are tempting.

Forget diets and nutritional guide- ,
lines when using the recipes in How
to Cook Like a Jewish Grandmother
(Pelican Publishing Co.; $15.95).
Author Marla Brooks, a California
entertainment writer, recalls the
grandmother-like recipes of her
grandfather and great-uncle, who
owned Slobod's Delicatessen and
Slobod's Grocery in Philadelphia.
Pickled tongue, fried salami and
eggs, and sweet and sour meatballs
recall the tastes brought to Jewish
tables by grandmothers who always
wanted guests to have "a little bit
more!'

Pamela Hensley Vincent moves from
beet borscht to pork chops in The
Jewish Sicilian Cookbook (The
Overlook Press; $24.95) as she intro-
duces the traditions of the blended
family she and her husband share.
The actress, married to TV produc-
er Duke Vincent, includes 64 recipes
that merge two distinct ethnic palates.
She also provides a family history and
hopes to set a model for other families
telling their stories with food as the
foundation.
Anyone who has given up meat in
favor of vegetables is likely to find
many new savory approaches to cook-
ing in Olive Trees and Honey (Wiley
Publishing: $29.95). Author Gil Marks,
a rabbi-chef-writer, gives a taste of the
background of the dishes he intro-
duces.

by Stephen Son

DECEMBER 13-JAIIIVA

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innovative and influential artist is at the center
composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim's best-known
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For more information/tour contact:

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Eight Nights on page 48

December 22 • 2005

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