Family Tabor (Wolas) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Brace yourself for prose that is confident and prickly, and characters that are complex and problematic.
Toronto Star


The Family Tabor is a hypnotic generational saga.
Chicago Review of Books


A fascinating story about family, faith, and loyalty, The Family Tabor is not to be missed.
Bustle


In this compelling story, luck, like love, can be elusive, ever-present and lost. Wolas, who was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction for her first novel, explores Jewish identity and the connection to the past, with a nod to Leonard Cohen.
Jewish Week


The Family Tabor, Wolas's follow-up to her acclaimed The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, is a piercing and multilayered portrayal of an accomplished yet deeply troubled family.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) [P]recisely meshed poetic and cinematic scenes to realize a life of such quiet majesty and original consideration of family interplay that she does the impossible. Readers not only will mourn coming to the end, they will feel compelled to start over…. Breathtaking.
Library Journal


Wolas takes on weighty themes such as atonement and faith, but the paper-thin characters teeter under that heavy burden. Gorgeous writing notwithstanding …too much polish and too little substance. — Poornima Apte
Booklist


Strangely, all the buildup in the first four-fifths of the novel simply fizzles out in the last section. The ponderous writing is the last nail in the coffin.…. The premises are not believable and the exposition, tedious and overblown. A disappointment..
Kirkus Reviews