The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

  This is my June “challenge” book, chosen because both the main character and the author have ME.  It’s actually a pretty silly story, but it’s quite entertaining.  For 18 years, Rachel has borne a grudge against Jacob, her first boyfriend, whom she “dated” briefly when she was 12 and whom she thinks played a silly prank on her.  He suddenly comes back into her life, and he’s now kind, charming, handsome and rich.   You already know how it’s going to end, don’t you?!

The title “Matzah Ball” comes from the “Matzo Balls” (I’m assuming that the author used a different spelling because of copyright issues?) held in some American cities at Christmas, attended mainly by young Jewish singles on the lookout for a partner.  I’ve never heard of these before, but apparently they’ve been going since the 1980s.  Rachel is a writer of Christmas romance novels, and is obsessed with Christmas, but keeps it all secret because she thinks it might upset her observant Jewish family.  Which is a rather silly storyline.  Incidentally, this is a very American book.  Some of the things which seem to be considered normal for observant Jews in New York would never in a million years be considered OK for observant Jews in the UK.

Rachel’s publishers want her to diversify into Chanukah romances, and, for some reason, she decides that, in order to get some ideas, she absolutely has to get one of the coveted tickets for the New York Matzah Ball – which is being organised by, you guessed it, Jacob.   There are a lot of problems and misunderstandings.  And it turns out that it wasn’t Jacob who played the prank after all.  And, of course, Rachel and Jacob eventually get together, and presumably live happily ever after.  It was a rather silly story, but it was nice in its way; and it did a good job of describing the issues of living with ME.