anyone know any books with jewish protags that aren’t set in WWII? bc if so pls tell them to me I Am A Desperate Man
I don’t know many, but yes. That pisses me off too. Apparently Jewish people are primarily used for guilt porn.
This is extremely true and irritating! I made a list of some book recs for you, and I hope you find at least one or two of them useful or fun.
Miss Jacobson’s Journey by Carola Dunn (my review) Adorable Regency spy-romance where the hero and heroine are both Jewish, and helping England in the fight against Napoleon.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (my review), character-driven fantasy set in the Ashkenazi Jewish and Syrian immigrant communities of NYC in 1900, and one of the best books I’ve ever read.
The Vanisher Variations by Libi Astaire (my review) Mystery set in Regency London and Brighton, starring several Jewish leads who get roped into protecting a gentile woman without even knowing from what, which gets more complicated once she disappears! This is a series of standalone mysteries so if you like it there are half a dozen other books to look into.
For YA: Playing with Matches by Suri Rosen is set in contemporary Toronto and stars an Orthodox girl who accidentally becomes a matchmaker because she’s trying to fix her relationship with her sister.
For graphic novels, I highly recommend the Rabbi Harvey collections re-setting Ashkie legends in the American West, The Rabbi’s Cat (dark humor/philosophy/fantasy set in historic Jewish Algeria), and the Mirka books by @barrydeutsch which star an 11-year-old Orthodox girl fighting monsters in her hometown.
Here are two other posts with a lot more non-Shoah book recs across many genres and time periods. Here’s my brief recs list of free SFF shorts online with queer Jewish themes. And if you like the idea of fluffy queer fantasy with Jewish leads, here are my books (the Tales collection has max religious content if you’re looking for that in particular.)
Thanks so much for including my books on this list! 😀 If someone is trying to find them online or in a bookstore, they may have more success looking for “Hereville” rather than “Mirka.”
OP: If you’re interested in autobio comics, you might also try “How To Understand Israel In Sixty Days or Less” by Sarah Glidden.
“The Dyke and the Dybbuk,” Ellen Galford (1994), queer Jewish paranormal romance?
Mooncustafer 