I finished reading A Fortunate Age, by Joanna Smith Rakoff. It is Rakoff’s debut novel. I received an advanced reader’s copy of the novel through Barnes & Noble’s First Look Book Club. I have been procrastinating on writing a review of the book.

A Fortunate Age has been compared to Mary McCarthy’s book, “The Group”. Other than the fact that the book involves around a circle of friends, I saw no other comparison.

The story line revolves around a group of friends who are Oberlin college graduates. The novel takes place during the late 1990s through the early 2000s. It opens with a wedding, which causes emotional roller coaster rides in the circle.

Rakoff tries too hard, in my opinion to give the characters depth, and she becomes extremely wordy (which is not the same as being descriptive). For me, the book wasn’t stimulating, didn’t grab me to want to continue on. The friends are coming of age, and each of them has a definite opinion on marriage. As a united force, they had confided to each other that marriage was not in their future. Judaism is a subtle and underlying issue, not overtly depicted, yet the reader knows it is a force in the lives of the characters. Each chapter is basically delegated to one of the characters.

Within that format, I found the book to be a labor to read. The chapters are choppy, almost leaving the reader hanging at the end of each one. They end almost abruptly, without any defining conclusion. A Fortunate Age, for me, was a chore to read due to the fact I didn’t see a clear plot developing from within the pages due to the format.

I am an avid reader of non-fiction and fiction. The books I read are usually intense, historical, and compelling in some aspect. It is possible that the fact that I am older left me feeling unsympathetic, and feeling empty after finishing the book. There was no gratification. I couldn’t wait to finish it, which for me is unusual.

In my opinion Rakoff needs to work harder in blending her characters within chapters of cohesion. She made a decent first effort. Unfortunately, A Fortunate Age, by Joanna Smith Rakoff, did not appeal to me.
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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
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