Who Wrote 'The Weight Of Ink' And What Inspired The Novel?

I recently read 'The Weight of Ink' and was blown away by its depth. The author is Rachel Kadish, an American writer known for her historical fiction. What struck me about this novel is how it bridges two timelines—17th-century London and modern-day academia. Kadish was inspired by real historical figures like Baruch Spinoza and the hidden lives of Jewish women during that era. The way she contrasts intellectual ambition across centuries is masterful. The novel also reflects her fascination with unspoken histories, particularly how women's contributions to philosophy and science were often erased. You can feel her meticulous research in every page, especially in the details about scribes and ink-making.

Rachel Kadish crafted 'The Weight of Ink' as a love letter to forgotten voices. The novel's dual narrative—following a blind rabbi's scribe in the 1600s and a historian uncovering her story—stems from Kadish's obsession with marginalized histories. She spent years researching Jewish communities in London, digging into how women navigated rigid intellectual spaces. One key inspiration was the discovery of actual 17th-century documents written by women, often dismissed as trivial. Kadish wanted to imagine the person behind such texts: someone who risked everything to think freely.

Her portrayal of Ester Velasquez, the scribe, feels painfully real because Kadish drew from real constraints faced by women of that time. The modern timeline, with its academic rivalries, mirrors how we still gatekeep knowledge today. The ink motif ties it all together—how ideas persist physically, even when people don't. If you enjoy this, try 'The Hidden Letters' by Liza Perrat for another take on women's secret writings.

As someone who devours historical fiction, 'The Weight of Ink' stands out because Rachel Kadish didn't just write a book—she resurrected a world. The novel's roots lie in her fascination with Amsterdam's Jewish diaspora and London's scribal culture. Kadish has mentioned how visiting old libraries sparked the idea: seeing centuries-old ink made her wonder about the hands that held those pens. The character of Ester, a woman pretending to be a man to write philosophical treatises, reflects real stories of women who disguised themselves to participate in intellectual life.

What's brilliant is how Kadish contrasts past and present struggles. The modern historian Helen's battles with academia echo Ester's fights for recognition. Kadish's inspiration wasn't just historical gaps but also current debates about who gets to document history. The novel's thick with themes of legacy and silence, like how ink fades but never fully disappears. For a similar deep dive into hidden histories, check out 'The Glassmaker' by Tracy Chevalier.