"... A Weave of Women is an astonishment.... I know of nothing else quite like it." —John Leonard, New York Times "... an extraordinary novel, an original and beautiful work.... It is an extended epic poem which should become a classic." —The Nation This magical, powerful, musical book creates a modern liturgy around the lives of fifteen very different women who come together in Jerusalem, a male-dominated culture, in 1972. "Women long ago unlearned the words that preceded weeping, the incantations, anagrams, curses, witchcraft. Now, instead of muttering these words, instead of chanting them, they weep." The importance of ritual, of life's spiritual path, is at the center of E.M. Broner's classic novel, A Weave Of Women . An eclectic community of women living in and around Jerusalem, the characters are committed to each other by spiritual need. They range from teenagers to women in their fifties, an international mix who form a society within a society, seeking ecclesiastical guidance their traditions do not provide. Each woman is an individual; each knows they must stand together. They learn a political lesson when they rally to save the "Home for Jewish Wayward Girls" - they change the name to "Home for Jewish Future Homemakers" and funds come pouring in. Life's contradictions live throughout this novel: "To love easily is a blessing. To be hurt easily is a curse." Laughing, crying, and struggling to make their lives complete, these women address issues of friendship, incest, love, abuse, loneliness, birth, and death, and perform rituals that cleanse, strengthen, and renew. Their rituals serve to empower them and the reader as well. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14 . -- From 500 Great Books by Women ; review by Holly Smith The weaving in A Weave Of Women is made up of many strands-- anentire community of women and their men. Set in the old city of Jerusalem, the novel focuses on a small stone house in which a group of women who have accidentally become friends regularly meet for pleasure and out of need.