WHY IS MARTHA JEWISH?

One of my readers wrote, “I love how you weave the Jewish faith into the stories…Was it a given you were going to do it? Were you concerned some people might be put off by involving faith or that specific faith?” I love the question, and wanted to share with you how that whole thing came about.

When I first thought about writing a mystery, the old advice of “write what you know” kept rattling around in my head. I knew that to create a convincing main character, I had to get inside her mind and heart. She needed to be a whole person with strengths and deficits, personal issues, and a well-defined outlook on life. So, I loosely modeled Martha Rose after me: a quilter of a certain age who was short, divorced, overweight, suffered from fibromyalgia, and Jewish.

I didn’t hesitate to make her Jewish, as I believed that Jewish women were generally underrepresented in literature, especially in cozy mysteries, and especially as main characters. And giving Martha this unique identity would guarantee that her character would stand out in the crowded field of cozy mysteries.

I never worried that some readers might be offended or object to the fact that a Jewish Martha didn’t fit the traditional mold of a female sleuth. My goal was not to promote the Jewish faith. Proselytizing is not something Jews do. Nor was it appropriate to delve into her personal relationship with God. I’ll leave that to a different genre of fiction. But making Judaism part of her identity deepened her as a character and made her a more complex person.

I was also eager for the opportunity to inform my readers about Jewish practices in an entertaining way. For example, many important scenes take place on Friday nights at the Sabbath table where Martha has a chance to come together with the important people in her life. Not only are personal issues discussed, but some sleuthing gets done. And while all this is happening, the reader gets a small glimpse of some of the ancient rituals. And depending on the time of year a story takes place, the reader will learn throughout the course of the book a little bit about other holidays or special observances on the Jewish calendar.

Finally, in these days of sharp partisanship and growing intolerance, I wanted to showcase how common interests can bring people of diverse backgrounds together. Martha’s best friend Lucy is Catholic, yet they respect and love each other like sisters. Their friend Birdie is vaguely pagan, yet they love her equally and never judge her. Jazz Fletcher is wholeheartedly absorbed into their quilting circle even though he is gay. I try to emphasize the theme of love and tolerance, because it is a message we all need to be reminded of, no matter what our personal faith is.

I liken my stories to a loaf of raisin challah, Sabbath bread made of strips of dough braided together. Each strand is an important element: the main plot, the sub-plots, quilting, American history, women’s history, and friendship. And the sweet raisins sprinkled throughout, are the bits of Judaism and Jewish practices for my readers to discover.