RaveThe Washington Post...irresistible, sexy and intelligent ...When I was growing up, the Purim pageant play felt lacking in nuance... In her imaginative and fiercely feminist retelling, Solomon offers much greater complexity ... Solomon’s novel spans generations, stretching millennia to weave three vibrant and transporting tales from the fabric of a biblical past ... Like Michael Cunningham’s The Hours whose triptych structure Solomon credits, the novel skillfully mines the domestic sphere (of parties, sewing circles, hidden gatherings of kept virgins) for its kinetic inner life ... Solomon’s previous novels...lay the foundation for this multifaceted masterwork, which extends the scope of her sensibility over a larger landscape. Her gorgeous, lilting prose vibrates with fight, destabilizing patriarchal norms with questions of power and want, identity and self-determination to timeless and timely results ... Like Mrs. Dalloway to The Hours, the biblical echoes throughout offer a sort of treasure hunt gratification, but the novel succeeds on its own. As with the best of desert island (or pandemic) reads, The Book of V radiates a dynamism that invites rereads and generously keeps giving — challenging and arousing us as it delights.
