Books of Jacob | II. Book of Sand, Chapter 9
"But Hana did have a different kind of dowry - the prestige of her family"
The necklace she received from her husband was so valuable that it was taken from her right away and locked up in a chest. But Hana did have a different kind of dowry—the prestige of her family, the resourcefulness of her brothers, the books written by her father, the ancestry of her mother, who descends from Portuguese Jews, and her own sleepy beauty, and her gentleness.
(Tokarczuk, Books of Jacob, p. 780)
Chapter 9 begins with the wedding in Turnu near Nikopol of Hana and Jacob. The lavish feast threatens to bankrupt Hanah’s father, Tovah.
Still, Tovah secures a job for Jacob in Craiova. Jacob goes there soon after the wedding leaving Hanah, her father and her brother Hayim behind. In Craiova, Jacob clashes with Tovah’s brother-in-law, who is a follower of Sabbatai Tzvi and his assumed successor, Baruchiah.
One of Abraham’s employees, Hershel, succumbs to Jacob’s charisma. Despite his recent marriage, Jacob has numerous affairs and in “an act of reversal, the opposite of the written law” sex with Hershel.
On returning to Hanah, Jacob wants to give her a precious pearl, but demands jewellers drill into the near sacred object They refuse, and he then tricks a jeweller into helping him.
When Jacob collects Hana from her father’s house, Hershel falls in love with Hana. They form a fateful triangle.
For paid subscribers below I have some additional sources and notes to enrich your Slow Read.
chat question - on the cultural influence of the Ottoman Empire.
character - Hannah and Tovah, daughter and father become key characters
context - Ottoman and Muslim Europe - Nikopol, Craiova, Salonika were all multifaith cities of the Ottoman Empire.
If you have not already done so, please upgrade your subscription, and read on to get more from your Slow Read of The Books of Jacob.