I always seem to love a book that has a little unexpected magic in it, and The Matchmaker's Gift was no exception! I loved how the book went back and forth in time, between a grandmother and granddaughter, both learning that being a matchmaker in their Jewish community is what they are meant to do. Sara came to America many decades before and learned that matchmaking was her gift. But the men in the town who were also matchmakers did not believe she should be doing it, especially because she was unmarried. Her granddaughter, Abby, is a successful divorce lawyer who has recently been seeing things she can't quite believe--like how a client and her husband should absolutely not divorce because they were meant to be together. This book was so sweet and wonderful and I never wanted it to end! Getting to watch Sara fight for the right to be a matchmaker and Abby learned to accept who she is was just so beautiful. This is one of my top reads in 2023!!

The Matchmaker’s Gift follows Sara and her granddaughter, Abby in alternating timelines. We meet Sara as a young girl in 1910, the year she first stumbles upon her talent for making matches. We then follow her journey into adulthood, watching her fight against the old fashioned patriarchy which is both intimidated and envious of Sara’s natural abilities.

In the nineties we meet Abby, Sara’s granddaughter. Sara works with couples as well, although ironically she makes her living as a divorce attorney. Always close with her grandmother, Sara is deeply saddened when she passes. When she goes to organize her grandmother’s belongings, Abby discovers handwritten accounts of Sara’s matches that continued long after anyone had suspected. The deeper Abby gets into her grandmother’s history, the more she respects her gift. But when Abby starts to feel a similar calling, she too has to make the hard decision between destiny and dissent.

The Matchmaker’s Gift is a magical read with feminist undertones. Although both Sara and Abby came of age years apart, the reader quickly sees how their journeys are more alike than they are different. I read this story as an audio and had one nitpick regarding young Sara’s narration vs older Sara. Young Sara had no accent, while older Sara did. It didn’t take away from the story itself, I just found the lack of accent in earlier years to seem inconsistent.

All in all, The Matchmaker’s Gift is a book about finding the right fit that’s a true perfect match for an appreciative reader.

The Matchmaker's Gift was one of my favorite reads of 2022. What could be better than a book that encompasses everything love is and can do?

Sara is a special character who I fell in love with immediately. The patriarchal jerks who tried to tear her down never broke her spirit. She knew true love and basked in her ability to bring two people together.

Abby also stole my heart. I found the irony of Abby's divorce lawyer career completely in tune with the rest of the book. I loved it when Abby finally found the heart to tell her jerk of a boss to shove it. When she took on Sara's work, I cried.

I award The Matchmaker's Gift a full 5 out of 5 stars. I encourage every single cynic out there to give this one a read. It will make you believe in love all over again.

A highly enjoyable pastiche of love and history, The Matchmaker's Gift brings together romance and the past in an irresistable way. Perfectly suitable for book clubs and even for younger people about what it costs to make decisions about love.

I have nothing but praise for this book! I loved it so much. I love all the work the author put into the research and making Sara feel so real to me. Dual timelines that move seamlessly and keep you reading for more on both stories. Certainly wishing I had a good Yiddish dictionary but I figured it all out because it made sense and it was all so beautiful.
Seriously grab this one up. I loved it!!

This historical fiction story is a magically joyful Jewish story that takes us out of our typical WWII book club reading with a dual timeline set in the 1910s and 1990s.

Loigman weaves in the history of Jewish matchmaking, but it couldn't be further from the Fiddler on the Roof interpretation. She chose this period because of its rich matchmaking history, with over 5,000 matchmakers in New York then.

Sara holds a unique talent for matchmaking, but in 1910, this was a male-dominated occupation. So she hides her abilities even when she sees the sparks fly between matches and does what she can to matchmake in secret.

The reader is gifted a dual timeline experience with her great-great-granddaughter, Abby, discovering Sara's journal entries.

Abby is a successful divorce attorney who shares a few of Sara's talents but divides assets and ends marriages as part of her job. As Abby learns more about her family's history, she must fulfill a perplexing promise that Sara once made that could, ultimately, end her career.

A hidden treasure as a point of storytelling in historical fiction is a well-weathered trope that Loigman leaned into hesitantly. She effectively freshens it up with vibrant storytelling in both timelines and lots of clever nostalgia for the 1990s.

The author discusses this book with us and shares her extensive matchmaking research. We also learn how the quarantine sparked her creativity in unlikely ways. Loigman's telling of this fruitful season for her career is just as magical as the book is. It just might inspire a fruitful season of your own.

This cozy feminist-forward selection will resonate with new and seasoned historical fiction readers. I'm confident this will be one of your favorite books of the year, and since I've read all of Loigman's books, I can vouch that this is her best book yet.

The Matchmaker's Gift follows Abby, a divorce lawyer, who is dealing with the death of her grandmother, a professional matchmaker. The books switches perspective from Abby's "present day" 1994 life to her grandmother's experiences starting in 1910 and her immigration to the US. I liked the premise of this book and was excited to give it a try!

I absolutely loved it! I thought it struck such a good balance of interesting characters, time periods, interweaving threads, and managed to be uplifting without being trite. I read this super quickly because I enjoyed it so much and wanted to see what happened, without really knowing where it was going. I loved both Abby and her grandmother and liked seeing both of the perspectives as the years went on. I liked that Abby didn't receive a diary from her grandmother like SO MANY other books because she got to fill in the gaps herself and it doesn't suggest that her grandmother spent time writing literal novels about everything that happened to her. Small nitpick but that always annoys me.

Abby and her grandmother are Jewish and I liked seeing how they related to their faith and culture over the years. and in different circumstances. I enjoyed that Abby was wary about love but wasn't overly negative about it. I thought that the side characters were fun and the matches memorable. I kept forgetting that the "present" day was set in 1994 until Abby had to check the landline messages or look through the rolodex to call someone. I'm assuming that this time period was set so that the grandmother was able to experience a lot of important events at the beginning of the 1900s. Fair enough, and it was fun to read about the 90s.

Overall, I had an incredible time with this book and recommend it to absolutely anyone. 5 stars from me! Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Is finding true love a calling or a curse?

This is a dual timeline story, 1910 New York and 1994 Manhatten. In 1910 Sara Gilkman has the gift of matchmaking and has to try to find her place in a male dominated profession. When Sara dies, her Grandaughter, Abby inherits her handwritten journals recording details of her matches. The story goes between the two timelines giving us the stories of Sara's matchmaking and Abby's profession as a divorce attorney. This is a feel good story that was a delight to read.

I was given a copy of the book by the publisher and NetGalley and my opinion is my own.

🌙𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲🌙
THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT
🤍𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: magical realism
𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5 ⭐️ 💫
📖 297 pages

What a lovely, refreshing read. Thank you @netgalley, @StMartinsPress & @lloigman for the #gifted copy of this stunning 🤩 hardback- can we have a moment for that cover!!?😍✨💍💒🌸♥️

I loved everything about this from the dual timelines/POV to the magic surrounding the storyline. I was instantly enthralled and couldn’t get enough. I loved how easily the writing flowed and fell in love with both of the MC’s, Sara and Abby.

⚠️ may contain spoilers ahead:

The story follows Sara Glikman from the early 1900’s-1994 and her journey to becoming the town’s matchmaker. She however had to do it in secret as being an unmarried woman was frowned upon for this profession. Fast forward two generations later, you meet her granddaughter, Abby, quite literally in the most opposite profession, a divorce lawyer in NY. After Sara passes away, Abby inherits some of her old journals. She soon realizes she may have more in common with her grandmother than she realized…

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂:
* love a matchmaking plot 🪄
* believe in true love and fate 💖
* love pickles 🥒
* enjoy a glimpse into Jewish 🕍 heritage
* can relate to having a difficult boss (I despised Diana 😡)

Thank you also for my signed #bookplate and the pickling kit! 🥒

➡️ Swipe for the full synopsis 📖

#historicalfiction #magicalrealism #romance #TheMatchmakersGift #SMPinfluencers #fantasy #Jewish #fiction #hardcover #bookaddict #whattoreadnext #botwxbs #bookcollector #booksaremylife #booksonbooks #cozycorner

This was beautifully written and a great read.

I received an arc from Goodreads for my honest review. 😀

Abby is a divorce lawyer who doesn’t believe in love. Her grandmother Sarah is a matchmaker who only made true love matches. When Sarah passes away, Abby begins to see that she has her grandmother’s gift. This book was a wonderful and fun read. I enjoyed the different perspectives and time shifts between Abby and Sarah. It gave a wonderful depth to the characters and to show the differences in the time periods.

I had previously read the Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman which I enjoyed very much and was thankful when I was provided with an advanced copy of The Matchmaker’s Gift by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not disappointed! This dual-timeline story set on the lower East side of Manhattan which happens to be where I grew up in the 1960s, tells the story of Sara who against the wishes of those around her helped make love matches for quite a few people in her neighborhood at a time when this was not acceptable. Years later Abby, Sara’s granddaughter, a successful divorce attorney, inherits her grandma Sara’s journals which tell the details of Sara’s matches and begins to realize she may have the gift her beloved grandmother had for making matches for unexpected people in her life perhaps even finding a match for herself.
I really enjoyed this book and the Jewish phrases amongst the pages and found myself singing the song Matchmaker, Matchmaker from one of my favorite movies Fiddler on the Roof!

Thank you NetGalley for this free eArc to read and review.

A cute read that kept my interest and had me continuing to turn the pages.
Great likable characters, dual timeline, interesting subject, and a story that warmed my heart.

This is the story of Sara Glikman who in 1910, as a young child, was able to see the glow between her sister and the man who would become her husband. She very quietly arranged their match and many more for years.

Her granddaughter Abby is a divorce attorney who represents some of the biggest divorces in the city. When Sara dies, leaves Abby all of her diaries. It is her hope that in reading these diaries, Abby will find and create happiness rather than see love at its worst.

I loved this unexpected book. It is so unique and a pleasure to read. The story is such a wonderful feel-good book

The Matchmaker’s gift ✨
I was compelled to read this book because I adore the concept of matchmaking. I secretly wish I had the gift of matching soulmates for individuals, but I don't 😳
Sara and Abby's parallel histories were used to tell this incredibly charming story.
Even though older men who considered her as a danger to their business used to conduct this type of work, Sara has been a successful matchmaker since she was just 10 years old.
Sara's granddaughter, Abby (me 😅) is a successful divorce lawyer who inherits boxes of her grandmother's journals, but reading them raises more questions than it does solutions.

I adored both points of view and was equally curious to know more about the deeper meanings behind their stories. I adored Abby's quest to discover her true calling in life and her impact on those she met. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'll give it to anyone searching for a feel-good tale that's charming and witty. 🤍

Wonderful stories in different timelines. I would rate this 4.5 stars just because it moved a little slow in the beginning. Being in the eye profession myself I loved seeing the historical side of the beginning of optometrists to seeing a woman in Ophthalmology. The stories of the matchmaking and the old Jewish culture trying to fit in in the new neighborhoods were great. I loved seeing a woman in that time standing up for herself and doing what is right. Overall great historical fiction for both timelines!

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺."

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥'𝗦 𝗚𝗜𝗙𝗧 was one of my last reads of 2022 and also one of my favorites. This multigenerational story about two matchmakers - one who cannot ignore her gift and the other who doesn't realize she has it - is a delight. The dual timeline alternates between the stories of Sara, a Jewish immigrant living on the Lower East Side starting in the early 1900s, and her granddaughter Abby, a lawyer in 1990s NYC (ahhh, the days when we checked answering machines!). It was refreshing to read historical fiction about Jewish characters that doesn't revolve around the Holocaust, and I enjoyed how the author brought both the family's old and new traditions (babkas and Zabar's!) to life. And the epilogue... just perfection!

As someone who was set up with her husband, I believe some people have an intuition about couples making a good match, and this book definitely touched that romantic part of my heart. I got a copy for my mother, who I know will also love it.

Thanks to St. Martin's for the copy to review.

I was so excited to receive an ARC of The Matchmaker's Gift. Liogman's writing style just pulls you into the world with the characters and it's always a great mix of comforting, interesting, and exciting. This book has two timelines, they were so well balanced and really made sense together to follow the grandmother in her youth and the granddaughter in her early adulthood. I especially loved the NYC setting. Loigman is always a must-read author for me and I'm already looking forward to her next book!

This enjoyable read presents matchmaking in the 1910's and 1990's by focusing on a grandmother and her granddaughter both with a special gift.

Jewish Matchmaking at its finest! A captivating and heartwarming story to snuggle up with on a cold winters night.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for this advanced readers copy.