A fantastic debut novel that weaves together a tapestry of multigenerational marvel, and Jewish history.. Beautifully written.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the idea of this book, and the writing was beautiful, but I just could not get into it. I tried several times, but it was just not for me. I didn't feel a connection with any of the characters.

It's not often that I DNF, but this was such a slog for me, I just couldn't get through it. It started out fine, but it slowed about 1/3 of the way through. DNF at 50%.

Really beautifully Jewish and queer! I especially loved the bits about S. Ansky and his life and work, and the way we look for meaning in absence. I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending, but I enjoyed the majority of the book enough that it didn’t bother me as much as it might have otherwise.

City of Laughter covers a lot of ground, exploring mother-daughter relationships, romantic relationships, family secrets, what we inherit from our ancestors, queerness and identity, and more - all with a magical folkloric twist.

The story follows four generations of women from an Modern Orthodox family, with roots in a small town in Poland, but living in the United States. With little knowledge of the women that came before her, Shiva desperately wants to know more about her ancestors in order to better understand herself and the relationship she has with her mother, especially now that her father has passed and her mother is all she has left. But Hannah, her mother, is more than reluctant to share anything about her own mother and grandmother. Thus, Shiva embarks on a mission to discover the truths she is missing, which takes her to graduate school for Jewish folklore, and eventually back to Poland. As Shiva progresses through her journey, the other three narratives unfold alongside hers, slowly unraveling to reveal a larger interconnected picture of a family and what they have carried through generations.

This novel draws a lot from existing folklore, and the author even invents some of their own. I wasn’t super familiar with S. Ansky or some of the other lore, but I enjoyed the narrative nonetheless. The language and style is stunning, and I found myself highlighting huge chunks almost right off the bat.

I think those that struggle with slower pacing may not enjoy this book as much as I did, but I felt like there was a lot to savor here. The ideas and themes in this novel really appeal to me, and I think anyone who has had similar questions about identity and ancestry will get a lot out of this one. I will definitely check out more books from this author in the future!

*Thank you to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic/Grove Press, and Temim Fruchter for the opportunity to read a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

stunning!!! the writing is truly gorgeous. this is the best kind of book; one that is not just enjoyable in terms of plot but truly beautiful in its prose. it's hard to describe what makes it feel so magical, but like shiva suggests, i guess the body knows more than the mind sometimes. i was truly drawn to and immersed into this book.

[thank you to netgalley for the arc! my review is completely my own opinion]

3.5/5 stars.

Oh man, when I tell you I wanted to love this one so much and I'm so disappointed that I didn't.

I feel like all aspects of this book worked for me individually. I can confidently say that I'm a huge fan of the writing, that the characters were perfectly compelling, even that I appreciated the non-linear approach and narrative structure overall. However - I never managed to gel with it, and these individual aspects didn't seem to gel together, either.

Mind you, I feel like I learned a lot and Shiva is an incredibly relatable character to me. I also loved the backstory and the character histories. They were reminiscent of certain storylines from The Thirty Names of Night, which is one of my favorite books of all time, and I love love LOVED that.

There is, overall, a lot of positive that I took from this. I'd even go so far as to say I'll probably pick it up and reread one day and probably take even more from it. This time, though, it constantly left me wanting more; like something simply wasn't clicking even though I was desperate for it to do so.

Sometimes too much telling instead of showing and overly descriptive. I was Intrigued by the narration of the mysterious/nameless Messenger. I wanted more of that story!

The chapters are way too long for my taste so it was hard to pick up when I didn’t have the energy to commit to a potentially 1hr+ chapter. Plus the pacing dragged at times making it even harder to want to read.

Almost DNFd twice and set it aside multiple times for other books, but kept coming back to see where the story of Shiva’s ancestors would take us. I also really wanted to learn more about Jewish folklore.

The folklore and the idea of a generational family saga drew me to this book but sadly the execution just fell flat. If the book had been made shorter or at least better pacing, as well as more of the folklore/prologue type writing as opposed to Shiva, I probably would have stuck with it. It just felt like the author was trying to do too much and didn’t pull everything together in a satisfying way

Sadly decided to DNF for good at 32%-another book with a great idea but poor execution

City of Laughter is an intergenerational tale of familial secrets in a line of four women. Each woman must follow her own path of discovery, but the reader gets to see the shared connectedness. I loved the present day storyline, the character development of Shiva and Hannah kept me invested. Enjoyable and thought provoking read. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a doozy! While some novels can seamlessly pull off multiple timelines and narratives, I struggled a little with it here. It seemed to switch nearly mid paragraph in some places and it was slightly jarring and left me confused and trying to keep up. Ultimately, I thought the message was strong and I loved unearthing more women's stories as Shiva also got to them in her research but it was a bit muddled in parts.

This book is beautifully written, but I had to DNF it at 50%. I loved the folklore aspects, but keeping up with three different story lines was a lot, and it just felt too long. It follows three generations of women and their connection to their Jewish roots and folklore, and I think it was building toward something cool, but after half of the book, I didn't want to continue that journey with them. I think this will find its audience, and I'm bummed it wasn't me.

Mixed on this one. The introductory story was an absolute stunner, but after 1/3 to 1/2 of the book following, I just didn’t remain engaged. Did not finish this one.

feels like this book was made for me. i love reading about queerness, judaism, and family history. due to story gaps in my own family, I found the curiosity and questions coming from Shiva and Hannah so relatable. as my time reading continued, I was surprised that I found myself more interested in Hannah's storyline. both journeys were super fascinating to read about. the reason i am giving four stars has to do with overall pacing and confusion on timeline at points.

I adored this magical, deeply queer story of family, memory, and Jewish folklore. I’ll be thinking about these characters and their world for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley/Grove Press for a copy of City of Laughter in exchange for an honest review.

An Epic Tale
Temim Fruchter’s debut is epic in every sense of the word. City of Laughter is a book that simultaneously weaves, sweeps and meanders through time. City of Laughter is very Jewish. Not just in its content but also in its narrative style. Be prepared for many asides and switches from third person to first person.

I’ll admit I was sometimes reticent to follow the novel’s seemingly random tangents. But, like all good Jewish tales, the payoff is worth it. (That said, you don’t need to be an expert in Judaism or Jewish folklore to follow along. I am a neophyte in this arena — in more ways than one — and I could follow along just fine.)

What City of Laughter does best is facing family history head-on. I, too, come from a culture that doesn’t particularly enjoy divulging family truths, so I resonated hard with Fruchter’s words here. (Luckily, my shaking apart of the foundation has not unearthed any skeletons quite as large.)

The juxtaposition of queerness, its joy, sorrow and liberation, when it meets tradition, is always a rich topic. Fruchter plays with that tension well. There are through-lines but also differences in how each queer woman, throughout time, deals with her queerness. (I also appreciate that after so many years of the community avoiding the topic, we are acknowledging that it can “run in the family.”)

Should You Read It?
Yes. But you need to be prepared. City of Laughter isn’t a beach book; it isn’t fluff. You have to be paying attention while you read. Or else you’ll find yourself lost or worse, not appreciating its gifts. Temim Fruchter has done something extraordinary with her debut, and I’m quite impressed. I think the patient reader will be, too.

City of Laughter is out on January 16, 2024. Pick up a copy at your local indie bookstore or library. 📚👩‍👧

I absolutely loved the Prologue. I loved it so much, that I paused the book to tell my husband about how such a simple scene was so magnificently told that it hooked me. That I loved the Jewish representation. That I loved the magical realism.

I wanted that book, Baruch’s story. I was disappointed when the POV switched in Chapter 1. I struggled to become invested in Shiva’s story. It was too slowly paced for me and I felt that it was missing the magic of the Prologue. I’ve made it to 25% and decided to DNF the book. I think it has some very good component parts but the manner in which the story is told has just not captured my interest. I did really enjoy the discussion of the mikveh.

I’m rating the first 25% of the book 3 stars. Thank you, Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

Shiva Margolin comes from a long line of women who have struggled with their place in their families and the world. Following a heartbreak and the death of her father, who has always been the glue in her family, Shiva is feeling unmoored. She decides to pursue her interest in Jewish folklore through a master's degree in the subject. Through the program, Shiva learns of an opportunity to visit Poland, where her family comes from, and she applies. Shiva hopes that walking the same ground as her mysterious great-grandmother will help her make sense of her family and herself. He trip to Poland is even more revelatory than she could have hoped, and causes her to reconsider much of what she had long thought about her family.

This was an interesting book. Its structure, moving among the stories of Shiva, her mother, her grandmother, and great mother, and between the literal and the mystical, works well as a thoughtful way to explore the nature of family relationships, how they evolve, and the impact of, and connection to, those relatives one never even met.

Highly recommended.

In a Polish shtetl, a nebulously gendered angel appears to give the gift of laughter to a badchan (Jewish wedding jester). This gift, and the life forced contained within it, is passed down through generations. In contemporary times, Shiva, a young queer woman who was raised Orthodox, searches through family history and Jewish lore to understand the aching but little-understood absence she feels at her core. Her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother grapple with their own silences, suppressions, and desires–all connected at the root to the same source.

Shifting between the generations of women in Shiva’s family, Fruchter’s novel explores the experience of absence, of grief and loss, of queerness, of laughter and life force. Rich with language and imagery and emotion, CITY OF LAUGHTER manages to evoke absence, oppression, silence, legacy, love and more. While the story is slow at times, curiosity and appreciation were enough to keep me reading. The voice–and Fruchter’s way of approaching the subject–is fresh and original. CITY OF LAUGHTER is a beautifully written exploration of so much that is hard to put into words.

I am so sorry, but I am dnfing this book. The story has been amazing, and I liked the overall themes and struggles Shiva goes through. I just don't think I am in the right head space to read this as of right now. I wasn't sucked in, and I recently came out of a book slump and I don't want to go back into one.

I will be keeping up with this author, and I want to buy a physical copy when it comes out. I do want to come back to City of Laughter when I am in a way better head space. Thank you again for sending me this eARC.

Captivating novel, a journey through queerness, storytelling, folklore and families. Recommended if you're looking for something a bit unusual and "think-out-of-the-box" mood.