Yesterday I woke up and immediately knew I had to finish The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman. I went to bed with 30 minutes left in the book and was devastated I had to put it down until the morning. This new fall release came out in the beginning of September. I was gifted a copy through @netgalley and @stmartinspress to read and review.

This is a book told in dual timelines. One takes place starting in 1910 and the other is in 1994. In 1994 we are following Abby. She is a divorce lawyer and her grandmother has passed away. She finds journals of her grandmother’s love matches that she made in her lifetime. It opens up a ton of questions for Abby. In 1910 we follow Sara, Abby’s grandmother, as her matchmaking journey begins and develops. What do these journals and her grandmother’s past mean for Abby’s future?

❤️Review❤️

I really enjoyed my reading experience. We got to be so immersed in these women’s lives and their Jewish culture. I loved seeing how it impacted them. It definitely had a bigger impact on Sara than Abby, but it was still an interesting take and look on it. I definitely learned and had some take always from it. It’s hard to choose a favorite perspective. Abby’s life was engaging to read about because she had every day problems to deal with. Her life has a little glitz and glam due to her dealing with wealthy clientele. As she begins to discover more about her grandmother and how it may start to impact her own life made the story even juicier. Sara was just as engaging because you got to see her start making matches as early as 10 years old and her push to do what’s right for people. I liked how the match making felt magical, but felt so natural at the same time. I can’t speak highly enough about this book. Definitely give it a try if you like romance, historical fiction, dual timelines, and a hint of magic.

4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I really enjoyed THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT. I loved the way the author wove Jewish culture and history with a sort of rom-com with just a dash of magic together. Abby was a really endearing character. The grandmother-granddaughter bond at the heart of this story was really well-crafted and was an instance where dual timelines and dual POV narration worked really did. Reading about Sara Glikman and seeing how her granddaughter Abby grapples with her life in the aftermath of her grandmother's death really made me want to hug my own grandmother even though I am clearly not in the same situation as the protagonists of this novel. Sara's story was compelling and was a testament to the resilience of Jewish women throughout history. THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT is a story about reinvention and grief, but there is a beautiful sort of joy that laces these pages that the reader cannot miss. Loigman has done a fabulous job with this story and I highly recommend it for all its heart and charm.

You are a matchmaker, Sara Glikman. A shadchanteh for this strange, new world.

Sara and her family were coming to America. A strong Jewish family with strong traditions. Sara had the gift of matchmaking and it was known to her family when saw the light between her sister and a young man on the boat that later became her husband. Sara was totally devoted to tradition and her family. Having this gift of matchmaking was only for the Shadchanteh who were mostly men and married. But her gift of seeing the light between neighbors, friends, work associates would not go away.

Years later her granddaughter had the gift as well. Abby had become a divorce lawyer when her parents had gone thru a terrible divorce leaving her family broken and her mother in despair. When Abby's grandmother Sara died, she had passed her journals to Abby seeing the gift in her.

The narration is done between two women in different times with the same gift. Their struggles are unique but also ironic in nature. I appreciated the strong sense of loyalty, love and hope. Abby's gift of matchmaking became full circle when she saw the light with her eye doctor that was a old family friend. Her eye doctor's grandparents were matched by Sara. What a turn of events and it gets more interesting when the match is made with clients.

I loved the whole concept and bring people together. The connections made. I think it brings a longing that we all have told in a very special story.

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Although this book started a bit slow for me, it really picked up and I enjoyed the parallel stories. The book was fun and hopeful and clever read. I would definitely sell this book to customers looking for a delightful story.

When starting this book, I knew nothing of the Jewish religion, matchmakers, or the way of life in early 1900 New York. Now I feel as though I've walked in the shoes of a young Jewish woman in 1910 and again those of her granddaughter in the 1990's. I learned the challenges and fears of both girls as they tried to follow their hearts and grow into successful women in a 'man's" New York. I felt their frustrations as they tried to make decisions that were right for themselves as well as their families. I loved feeling the relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter, the good and the sad. I am happy to report that I was able to read through this book without being waylaid by grammatical or other errors. The entire book flowed beautifully from one scene to the next, one era to the next, beginning to end. I could not put it down. The only problem I'm having with this book is that I wanted to read more. There's more to this story and I hope the author picks up where she left off and brings us to hiding or explaining "paranormal" life in the 2000's. I highly recommend this book.

I read this book on behalf of Netgalley.com in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an amazing read! Two timelines which I love! The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman is truly a gift! So well-written and magical!

We are drawn into the lives of Sara Glikman, a young immigrant to NYC in the early 1900s and follow her life through the mid-1990s where we also meet her granddaughter Abby.

Sara is a matchmaker - she’s been doing it since she is 10 years old. Her ways are unorthodox, which gets her into trouble. But her matches are true and are made through her special gift. Her timeline shows the struggles immigrant families had, expectations for women and how brave Sara was to stand-up for herself when others tried to stop her.

Abby in 1994 is a divorce lawyer. She wants to protect women in divorce proceedings after seeing her mother being taken advantage of.

When Sara passes away, she leaves a message through a young woman that Abby can help her find her match. Abby does not think so - she does not have a gift for this. Or, she didn’t think she did!

It is so delightful to read of the matches Sara made, her gift and how it worked, the Yiddish and English sayings, in this book. It’s hard to fully describe the scent and sounds of the lower Eastside that are brought to life and smelling being drawn into Abby’s story as she struggles with her Grandmother’s promise.

Do yourself a favor and read this book - you will laugh and you will cry and you will close the book at the end and really bask in the wonder of life and live.

Thank you to @stmartinspress @kccpr @lloigman @letstalkbookspromo for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review! It was such a delight to do!

Beautiful and heartworming! This would make an excellent library recommendation or book club pick for your collection! Thoroughly engaging and lovely.

Such a sweet story. I enjoyed both timelines but this was a little slow around 20-50% but it did pick back up. A hopeful, feel-good story.

I loved this book so much. The book alternates between two people in different timelines: Sara Glikman in New York City as a young girl in 1910, and her granddaughter Abby, who is a divorce lawyer in 1994.

Sara's family emigrated to New York City in 1910 and settled in an area where many other Jewish people lived. They had a three room apartment in a tenement, even after their family grew to eight people. There were more people than room for them all to sleep, so younger members slept on the kitchen table. I can't imagine how stressful this was for the mother of that family. There was never enough money even though every one who could worked.

Sara was the youngest daughter and had a gift for knowing when two people were soulmates, made for each other. Her first match was for her sister. She saw a young man on the docks right after they debarked from their ship. She had a feeling about the young man she saw and asked to borrow his handkerchief, as her sister was crying. The two met and Sara saw something odd - a thin golden string of light connecting the two. The two ended up getting married a few months later, and her mother told everyone at the wedding how Sara had introduced them. A local rabbi heard the story, and questioned Sara about how she had chosen that particular man to ask for his handkerchief. He told her that she had a gift, but that it would cause her trouble with the official matchmakers - men who were paid for their services and were jealously protective of their incomes. He was right.

in 1994, her granddaughter Abby is on the other side of the marriage business, a divorce attorney. Sara had left Abby her journals. They didn't immediately make sense to Abby as many of the entries were not sentences, just notes or names that Sara had jotted down. It turns out that Sara had a reason for choosing Abby to receive her journals. Abby inherited something else from Sara, which was a real inconvenience for a divorce attorney - the ability to recognize people who are meant for each other. What happens when you realize two people in the middle of a divorce are soulmates?

I received a complimentary advance copy of this book from the publisher St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Loved this really heartwarming family story, part historical novel. Grandmother and granddaughter are the central characters whom you become attached to early on.
Highly recommend!

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

The Matchmaker’s Gift
By Lynda Cohen Loigman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I tell you I LOVED this book 👏🏼

I went into this book completely blind and I’m really glad that I did! It was a beautiful historical fiction! I was so invested from the beginning! I loved the characters, the multiple POV’s and timelines, plus the intricacies of the Jewish heritage and customs. It was a strong representation of feminism and the powerful female journey without it becoming overly dramatized for the sake of female empowerment.

The characters were likable and you were always wanting them to succeed! Sara, the grandmother, was such a great character from start to finish! I loved the evolution of her matchmaking and the concept of how her matches were revealed to her. I really think it was perfectly fated how Sara ends up meeting her future husband and match for herself! Sara truly fought for herself and her right to perform matches even though it was untraditional in the traditional Jewish culture. I always loved when she found a new match and subtly tried to get the two people to fall into each others laps with her medaling so the Jewish leaders wouldn’t figure out she was involved!

Abby, Sara’s granddaughter, is such a goal oriented and driven FMC! She has ambition and the need to please all those in her life expect for her father who ruined her childhood with a nasty divorce from her mom. But in that, she unconsciously discovers her ability to assess love related situations which ultimately led her grandmother to notice their shared matchmaking abilities. I love how even though Abby became a divorce lawyer she could see beyond her job and advocated for the love of her clients and friends.

I just devoured this book and I have already recommended it to others!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review! #netgalley #thematchmakersgift

Beautifully told, The Matchmaker’s Gift, by Lynda Cohen Loigman, uses dual but overlapping timelines to tell the tale of an immigrant grandmother and her very modern granddaughter who share a talent for matchmaking. The story occasionally meandered into fantasy and magic which was a stark contrast with other elements of the novel. Despite having enjoyed the quick read, I doubt that this will be a book that “stays” with me. Nonetheless, I recommend it as diverting and well written. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was a pleasure.

Amazing!!!! .

Sara is a divorce attorney in NY. Her grandmother, Sara, who was a matchmaker, recently passed. She left Abby a message; could Abby be the next matchmaker?

This story!!! Such a delight!
Dual timeline, grandmother and granddaughter, both strong female characters, matchmaking, beautiful themes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Liogman a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoying it, I knew I had to read The Matchmaker's Gift. Plus Hello Dolly with Barbra Streisand as a Jewish matchmaker in New York City is one of my all-time favorites, so I thought I'd love reading about two Jewish women, a grandmother and granddaughter, both gifted with the ability to matchmake. I was right!! Of course maybe I shouldn't compare this book to Hello Dolly since the only similarities are that they're about female matchmakers and both are absolutely delightful. But I digress...

Sara is new to America in 1910 when she discovers she has the gift of matchmaking. Not just matching people for money like the Jewish men in her community did, but a true talent that allowed her to see who belonged together--a love match. Yet, she was forced to hide her ability and secretly make matches because as a young, unmarried female she wasn't allowed to practice her gift in the open since the male matchmakers were angered by her "encroachment" into their world and afraid of her taking their jobs and income.

Abby is Sara's granddaughter and a divorce attorney. Her grandmother has just passed away, and she's grieving the loss as they were extremely close. Sara always told her stories of the matches she'd made over the years and that she'd inherited her gift, but she's unsure if she even believes in matchmaking. Then Abby starts reading the journals her grandmother left her of all the matches she'd made throughout the years with newspaper clippings of wedding announcements and Abby really begins to understand her grandmother's story.

The story is told in alternating POVs from Sara starting in 1910 and from Abby, starting in 1994. I loved both storylines and women equally, which doesn't happen often. Their relationship reminded me of how much I loved and missed my own grandmother, and I think that really made parts of the novel special.

Liogman gives a lot of insight into Jewish culture and the customs of matchmaking with her newest novel. I love the strong female characters she wrote and how they fought to do what was right for themselves, their family, and the people around them even when being forced a different direction. A truly charming, delightful novel that I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Posted to Goodreads, Twitter and Amazon on 9/29/22

THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT by Lynda Cohen Loigman is a surprisingly delightful historical fiction novel. With positive reviews from writers like Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict, and Fiona Davis, readers are sure to enjoy the story of Sara, a Jewish immigrant in the early 20th century and her granddaughter, Abby, a young lawyer in New York in the 1990s. The story, which moves between the two time periods, shows that Sara is a gifted matchmaker, able to discern when two people truly care for each other. She facilitates matches in secret for many years due to opposition from the traditional, male Jewish matchmakers, known as shadchanim. Finally, desperate to support her family, she struggles for the right to more openly utilize her abilities and charge for her services. Abby, on the other hand, is a successful divorce attorney, but generally unhappy with her boss and the rather unfeeling advice they often offer clients. When Sara dies, Abby is forced to reflect on both their lives and ultimately chooses to fight FOR something, as her grandmother would have so wisely advocated. The author's note about her many sources and copious research (including numerous New York Times articles) is quite interesting as are the insights woven throughout the story about Jewish culture, immigrant life, and pressures faced by modern day professionals. Publishers Weekly says, "Readers are in for a treat." I wholeheartedly concur.

This is the author's third novel and I have read all her work. I have to say that I enjoy her writing enough that if I see her name on the cover, I will get a copy.

This book was a charming, dual timeline foray into the lives of two Jewish American women, both of whom I admired and would like to know in real life. Set in New York City, the novel explored the Jewish immigrant experience in the 1920s and 1930s as well as a more modern look at Jewish life in the 1990s. In the book, the reader is privy to many Jewish customs and practices, which the Russian Jews brought over to their community in the Lower East Side of New York. A community rich in history and Jewish culture to this day.

Today we think of 'matchmaking' as a somewhat antiquated practice with no real value, however the Jewish faith once held the practice as a very important and solemn one. Dowries were common, and the hiring of a matchmaker (shadchanim) expected.

The modern day story was easy for the author, as in 1994 she too was a young lawyer working in New York City. This lent the work authenticity.

I relish historical fiction that is well researched and this author devotes much time in laying the groundwork for her novels. Additionally, she creates characters who are realistic and likeable. This time out the story was a touch fanciful, but that didn't deter my enjoyment of it in any way. It was the story of a grandmother and a granddaughter united via their inherent gift for matchmaking. They were shadchanteh, the Yiddish word for a female matchmaker.

Highly recommended to those readers who appreciate entertaining historical fiction that holds just a touch of magic...

I just adored this book! A dual timeline where I am equally invested in both stories is rare. Overall I felt very happy while reading this book. I think the highest praise I can give is that as soon as I finished reading this I purchased another book by this author.

I always like to sit with a book for a few days after I've read it. Really let it sink in. Sometimes, a 4 star becomes a 5 or vice versa. Such was the case here. What I was convinced was a solid 4 star, turned into a 5 after a few days had passed because I couldn't stop thinking about it. This is a beautiful story with lots of love, a sprinkle of magic and two unforgettable narrators. I loved the setting and time periods the tale was told in. Love is love is a very prominent theme throughout this book and I think we all need a little of that now and again.

Synopsis:

In the earlier part of the 1900s, Sara Gilkman knows she has a special gift. She is a matchmaker and seeks out soulmates for each other. Set in New York's Lower East side, this matchermaker business amongst the Jewish community is dominated by men. They see Sara as a threat to their business and a break in traditon. Sara has to fight for her place in this male-heavy occupation and break through the molds that were set out for her community. Her gift is too true and magical to ignore.

Two generations later, Sara's granddaughter Abby is a divorce attorney and has just lost her grandmother. Sara has left Abby all of her matchmaking journals and Abby wonders why. With a promise her grandmother made a stranger and this gift evidently being left to Abby, she struggles with the magic of it and her career which, instead of bringing people together, encourages then apart. Will Abby embrace this gift, get behind true love and continue on her grandmother's path?

Thank you @netgalley and @StMartinsPress for the advanced eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Every so often a novel comes along that touches your soul - moves you to tears, laughter, smiles and leaves you never wanting the story to end. Friends - The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman is just that story. Lynda’s use of Yiddish, thrown in throughout the book, took me back to my grandmother’s table and brought back beautiful memories.

This book is so much more than a 5 star read and will undoubtedly be in my top 5 of 2023.

The dual timeline story of Sara and her granddaughter Abby is written so seamlessly and flows between Sara’s arrival in the United States in the early 1900’s and Abby’s present day (1994). I don’t want to give any of the story away - so I’ll tell you just to go, run, drive, shop online, do whatever you need to in order to get this book in your hands.

This book is a true treasure. I’m so glad I saved it to read over the Jewish New Year. It was just what I needed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lynda Cohen Loigman, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have had the chance to review this for you - I’ve gone and purchased a hard copy so I can add to my library.

The cover drew me in but I really loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Definitely recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!