This is an autobiography
It is well written and very interesting. The descriptions in the book are done so well

Not my favourite memoir, I usually enjoy them but this felt a bit like the Orthodox Jewish people were being treated like circus attractions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Wanted to like this book, but by the end, I was still wondering - What was the point of this book? It often reeked of intolerance and condescension, not of acceptance and the 'live & let live' vibe offered by the blurb. It was supposed to be fascinating - and it was in places - but the very last scene kills all the enjoyment. It is revealed the family she worked for did not want to be showcased or talked about...but the author denied this wish and went and talked about them. Not the kind of feeling I wanted from the end of this book, which then tainted the whole read and showcased the links, the friendships, under a whole new light

A wonderful look at friendship that transcends religion. A friendship betweena Jewish modern orthodox family and the author who is not.It’s warm funny interesting,#netgalley#mazeltov#pushkinpress

This book was about more than I thought it would be. In addition to insight about tutoring for an orthodox jewish family, there is sharing about Dutch culture and a look at the lifestyle of a refugee.

It was a multicultural learning experience and I enjoyed it.

Some of this book was great while other parts were quite jarring, so overall 3 stars for me.

I really liked the descriptions of the different cultures, languages and architecture in Antwerp, and the insights into the backgrounds of the family and the author - it was very interesting to read how their chance collision of very different worlds resulted in a long-term friendship.

Other things however, I didn’t like at all - it seemed that the author lacked any awareness or respect for some aspects of the Orthodox Jewish faith, and met everything new she learned about the culture either by laughing and mocking, or by challenging how people can actually believe in the traditions. I found it a little off-putting and quite narrow-minded.

It also seems that the author is very difficult to please! Neither a wedding, nor a chance meeting in New York, nor an invitation to an intimate birthday gathering seemed to impress her or make her feel included. She always seemed quite ill at ease and uncomfortable around the family, and yet kept in touch with them for many years. Perhaps it was lost in translation, but she spoke of the Jewish faith being a closed community, and yet she closed herself off to being included in religious festivals and family events.

With thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Even though the interview went rather poorly, the Schneider family employs the narrator as a tutor for their four children. The two boys cope with school quite well, but the oldest daughter Elzira struggles and needs support. The children do not go to an ordinary school, just like the family is not the ordinary Antwerp family. They are Orthodox Jews and with her tutoring job, the doors to a completely new world open for the young student. Gradually, she does not actually become a member of the family but they grow totally fond of her and even when the kids have grown up, they not only stay in contact but support each when they are in need.

The Flemish journalist and novelist Margot Vanderstraeten narrates her encounter with the Jewish community at the beginning of the 1990s when she was a student. She is quite young, only a couple of years the children’s senior when she first enters their life and thus can only wonder about what she sees and learns about the family’s faith, the different types of Judaism and a life in her hometown of which she did not have the least idea.

She is confronted with a lot of contradictions and unbelievable concepts, however, she also learns that they can provide anchors in life and give orientation in the modern world. Over the years, she also understands why some Jews prefer to keep to themselves and why all of them always have a passport at hand. At times funny, at times pensive – the novel gives insight in an unknown world without judging any way of life or religion. It is a wonderful memoir which first of all shows how people can bond even though, at first, they could hardly differ more. By showing Jews not only in Belgium but also in Israel and the USA, she also underlines that all of them find their very own way of interpreting their religion and of uniting an old faith based on ancient rules with the modern world.

Mazel Tov is an engaging and warm memoir of the author's transformative friendship with a Jewish family. Originally published in Dutch in 2017, this English language translation is due out 23rd Feb 2021 from Pushkin Press. It's 320 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is precisely as described: a warm friendly real memoir of the power of friendship. It emphasizes how our differences, from culture and religion to food and simple gestures when looked at objectively and honestly can form bridges to friendship and understanding. I liked author's voice and her frankness and openness about her initial interactions with the Schneider family and her own conversations with her partner, Nima.

This will have a broad appeal for readers of biography and memoir and would also make a good selection for public or school library acquisition. It could conceivably be added to reading lists for sociology, culture studies, and allied subjects.

Four stars. An engaging and well written book.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for the review copy of this book. Unfortunately, halfway through this book, my tablet bricked and I could not find a way to retrieve, send or redownload the archived copy. So this review only covers the first half. I do like the story so far, but think the author spends a lot of time on aspects of her personal life that don't relate much to the family, and I am more interested at this point in the family. Wish I could have finished it!

This is a very interesting and respectful insight into Modern Orthodox Jewish families. It is a good antidote to the modern world at the moment. Funny, easy-going, inclusive and without division or pain.

I liked the look into the Jewish faith and culture in this book. But I did feel that our narrator was a bit judgmental in some aspects.
There are a lot of mixed reviews on this book and I can definitely see why.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Definitely an interesting read and nice to take a glimpse into the lives of an Orthodox Jewish family.

This is a book I should really like as a Jewish woman, but I found myself cringing a bit as I read. It took too long to get to the heart of the matter--the way the author really grew to learn from the family the family to learn from her. The set up of her starting the job, interviewing etc was just much too detailed for me. I will not be recommending it to readers, but I don't write negative reviews so I won't be posting about it at all.

I was given a free e-book by NetGalley and Pushkin Press in exchange for an honest review.
If I had to summarise this book in one sentence it would be: Atheist gets job in orthodox Jewish household, is quite judgemental, learns nothing and exploits the relationships to get a book deal.
It’s billed as a memoir – but a memoir of whom? The author gives very little of herself. The patriarch of the family she is writing about asks her not to write about the family. She reports this, and yet here is that mess of a book.
There are so many annoying things about this book:
Near the end of the book she claims not to understand the Jewish dietary laws, which is odd, since she explained them half way through the book, and they are not that hard. Make some effort.
The endless explaining about the acts of everyday Jewish life without any depth of understanding (this might be mainly annoying to me because I a Jewish, so I already understand not just the how’s but the why’s that the author never seems to both to investigate).
There is some weird sexism – the author is angry because she catches a bus in Israel and it is separated by gender. Two pages later she’s asking how orthodox women learn to drive when they can’t be in a car with a man. No possible thought to having a female instructor.
There is a lecture about Palestine (two I think) that is shallow and, while not wrong, a very undergraduate way of thinking.
There is no flow, just a series of anecdotes, about a reasonably happy Jewish family, and a judgemental journalist who is “friends” with them while judging them, and later making money selling a book about them, with no indication that anyone is OK with that.
Maybe the book would make more sense if the author had shared more of herself. Why did her relationship break up? Why was she sad that time in New York? Why were they always flying to New York? Why has she fetishized this family and their religion, without bothering to learn anything much about Judaism?
One last niggle – why was book called Mazel Tov? The only mention of that is that they nearly call the dog Mazel Tov. Or is it to congratulate us when we battle our way to the end.
I can’t understand why this book was re-issued. It feels far more dated than the original publication date of 2017, and says far more about the author, her ignorance and biases than the Jewish family she is exploiting here.

I was cautiously optimistic about this book, and curious about how Jewish Orthodoxy would be treated by a gentile writer. While the author made it clear from the beginning that she didn't have any knowledge of the Jewish world, I was put off by the tone in the writing. I felt there were both implicit and explicit antisemitic views throughout this book. They could be down to the translation... However, I felt the author took a very 'us' against 'them' point of view throughout the narrative.

Jewish customs were treated as odd and 'other', sometimes provoking laughter, the desire to laugh or a 'you've got to be kidding me!' The author repeatedly questioned, and seem to take umbrage to, the fact that due to not being Jewish, some activities were not open to her (e.g. cooking for Elzira in her non-kosher kitchen). She focused quite a bit on the fact that Judaism is a closed practice and that some communities are closed, seemingly desperate for a glimpse into these worlds that do not want to include her. Frankly, it made me uncomfortable. So much interest did she show, that for a second I wondered whether she was going to convert.

I found the tone throughout the book to be judgemental and condescending. She openly questioned the integrity of Jewish people for using German products, repeatedly drawing comparison to her grandfather. This is not her place - I found this offensive.

The writing style wasn't for me; I didn't respond well to the constant smattering of French throughout this translation. Further, I felt this lacked a clear plot. My impression was that this woman worked for this family, which happened to be Jewish, built relationships with them (as you do after many years of service), and then kept touch with them for a while afterward. I didn't feel the reading experience enriched me in any way.

The Netflix shows Shtisel and Unorthodox seemed to provoke a lot of curiosity in the lives of orthodox Jews. This book provides another window into the same topic. A non-Jewish young woman is recruited to work as a tutor for the children in an orthodox Jewish family, where she learns about customs and culture that are foreign to her. I didn't see anything particularly new in this book, and feel that it is a little long (could have been edited in parts), but for those who are still interested in increasing their knowledge of orthodox Jews through the lens of an outsider, this book is an interesting read.

Absolutely loved reading this story and getting to know each of the characters. It's a wonderful memoir of friendships and a bond that transcends religious and cultural differences and is in fact all the stronger for it.

This was a tough book to read. The dialogue felt very stilted, and I did not find myself connecting to any of the characters. I made it 25% through and had to give it up. Sorry, I was not a fan of this writing style at all.

I think it's important to keep in mind that this is a memoir of what happened during the 90s. A lot of the misunderstanding stems from a total lack of knowledge or understanding of Orthodox Jewish culture by the Western world at that time. Compounded with Margot's boyfriend being an Iranian refugee and it was during the US-led Iraq War, this memoir was not simply about the relationship between the author and a Orthodox Jewish family that she helped to tutor. It was overall an interesting read, but I got a bit bored by all the political discussions and did not really find any of the misunderstanding funny as stated in the summary.