This translated award winning, epic, extraordinary, ambitious historical adventure novel in the classic tradition by Yaniv Iczovits exhilarates and beguiles in equal measure, set in the turbulent period of the late 19th century Tsarist Russia. In the all too ordinary town of Motal, in the Pale of the Settlement, the only place Jews are allowed to permanently settle, resides Mende, whose husband, Zvi-Meir, abandoned her and their children. Left impoverished, despairing and heartbroken, Mende almost kills herself. Her sister, the astonishing Fanny Keismann, cannot bear to witness Mende's suffering, and takes the momentous decision to track down her brother in law, leaving behind her cheese maker husband and 5 children. Fanny is the Jewish butcher's daughter, with an expertise with a knife that has her known as 'vilde chaya', the wild animal, in Motal.

Armed with a knife, Fanny sets off on a riot of a dangerous journey, finding herself accompanied and aided by the ferryman, Zizek Breshov. Coming across robbers, the fearless Fanny deals with the situation with her trusty knife, having no qualms or hesitations. The murders attract the attention of Colonel Piotr Novak of the Tsar's secret police, wondering who could have done this as he goes after them. As the bodies and challenges pile up amidst the violence and brutality, the strong and independent Fanny finds herself on a quest for her identity and freedom from being defined by society, religion and men, defying all the imprisoning and stultifying expectations of who and what a woman should be. Captured and evoked in the narrative is the unbound and prolific anti-semitism of the era, as can be seen by the thinking of Novak, and Jewish history, oppression and culture.

This is beautifully imagined and enthralling historical fiction, with its adventurous storytelling, with its rich intricate details and descriptions, darkly humorous and satirical. The brilliant offbeat and colourful characters we encounter are a joy to behold, making this an immersive read that I did not want to end. This is an original, riveting, atmospheric, unforgettable and breathtaking novel that deserves a wide a readership as possible. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

The Slaughterman's daughter is an epic historical adventure novel set during the final years of the Russian Empire. For fans of Historical Fiction, this book is well worth the read! From the very first page, I was overcome by the strength and the detail of the author’s description, the setting and the characters are so well written that I could practically imagine them leaping right off of the page. It’s certainly not an easy, low-maintenance read, as the translation can sometimes slow things down a little but the payoff more than makes up for it. Immersive, dark, and delightful, this is a novel bound for plentiful success.

When reading this, I was reminded of the quote that's typically attributed to Mark Twain about not having time to write a short letter and so writing a long one instead. This book is simple way too long and far too rambling for me. I gave it my best shot, gave it a week of my reading attention and found I was still only halfway through. The problem was at that point that I just couldn't work up the interest to give it another week.

The premise is interesting - but not very well explained, which is odd since at times other plotlines are way too OVER-explained. Two sisters live with their families in Tsarist Russia (actually, the book is set in what's now Belarus, Ukraine and Poland) in the so-called Pale of Settlement. I knew a little of the approach of settling Jewish communities together away from the rest of Russia society from my 'O' level European history. Think Fiddler on the Roof - it's that sort of idea. The elder sister finds herself abandoned by her husband who has gone off to Kyiv (or Minsk, or somewhere - it seems unclear) and may or may not have become a Christian (honestly, I was struggling). An abandoned wife in Jewish culture becomes a so-called 'agunah' and has to live her life in a not-quite-wife-not-quite-widow sense of limbo (to mix religious references). Her sister, Fanny, the Slaughterman's Daughter of the title, goes off to search for the missing husband in order to prove his dead and get her sister widow status, or to bring him back to sort out their relationships. The author doesn't explain this - I only know the status thing from another book I read (The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomon - 5 stars from me). To search for her missing brother-in-law, she leaves behind her own husband and children and takes off with the village boatman.

At times, the book is great. It zings along with colourful events and fascinating characters. The problem is that those times are too few and far between. I finally quit when faced with hours of an artist in a military base telling Fanny everything about her boatman companion and his friend who helped them escape from the authorities. It was just too much.

This book felt like when you meet somebody who seems really interesting at first and after a while you realise you just can't get away from them and they've turned into a terrible bore.

There's a great story in this book. Unfortunately, from my perspective, it's drowning in too many side stories and too much detail.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

So the premise of this book is fantastic! But its boring. I wanted to read more of it, but I honestly couldn't get through the text and I gave up around a quarter through.

Thank you NetGalley fro this book, but it really wasn't for me!

This book is a multi perspective quest novel, that follows the eponymous Fanny Speissman who tells herself she's setting out to find her sister's wayward husband, but in reality is trying to, as cliched as it is, find herself. It's set in the shtetls in the Russia in the late 19th century, and you're completely immersed in that. Reading this book felt like stepping into its very unique setting, and I feel like I have a far deeper understanding of Chagall's artwork! As any good quest story, Fanny is an excellent gender-flipped knight, with the martial skills to boot. And again, like any good quest worth its salt, a motley set of fascinating characters help, and hinder her. Their backstories and motivations are illuminating, and offer a commentary on some aspect of society at the time- there's a character who feels so betrayed by his community, for instance, that he turns completely against them, another character ekes out his living on the goodwill of the community while being considered a bit of an embarrassment, and there's an ex soldier who's so revered in the Tsars Army that he's just referred to as 'The Father' . Quite a few books I read over the last 6 months included Russian military campaigns and a lot of their victories seem to be decided by wars of attrition. It was fascinating to read about that from the perspectives of the actual foot soldiers, and the human costs. This assorted cast of characters, through various misadventures, comes to the attention of a spymaster, and he makes for some terrifying reading- the cold calculations of realpolitik, and the ease with which humans will turn on each other, the shallowness of notions of loyalty and honour when faced with actual threat in a situation with weak institutions. This knights tale has very real, very violent dangers, with the additional edge of rabid anti-Semitism.

Bread and circuses have been the means used by unscrupulous governments, since the days of the Roman emperors, and in times when bread is scarce, governments keep their citizens entertained by the age old strategy of dehumanising a minority. The book explores the tricky position of the 'Fiddler on the roof'- as a minority community living in a situation that had the potential to turn volatile anytime, do you try to integrate with the larger society? To what extent, and to what extent will you even be accepted? Or is it better to keep to yourself, keep your head down, maintain a low profile and hope you pass by unnoticed? And if that's the choice you make, should you decide to never demand your rights as a human if that also means you're less exposed to violence? In a world increasingly riven by identity politics, these are still relevant issues and the writer does a great job of showing you all the perspectives, and how they're valid for each particular situation, without trying to offer easy solutions.

I love the way the book ended- for all its fabulist qualities, the pain and suffering are very real, but so is the humanity. Ultimately that's all we can hope for-that we remember that we're sentient star stuff!
Very grateful to #NetGalley for giving me this ARC to read. I would recommend it for fans of The Sisters Brothers, if you want to know a book to compare it to.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

I /really/ enjoyed this book a lot. The character development, the plot and the settings were all described so beautifully and in detail.

At times things were a little hard to understand because of the cultural differences however these could be easily understood by thinking about context or simply just googling.

This genre isn’t one of my favourites however I enjoyed this book a lot despite it taking a generous amount of devotion, one of my favourite aspects is the character descriptions: everyone just felt so refreshing and different but in a positive way.

"When the hen starts crowing like a rooster, it's time to take her to the slaughterhouse."

I was overdue for a knock-my-socks-off historical epic.

The Slaughterman's Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits follows Fanny Keissman- A devoted wife and mother who leaves her house mysteriously in the middle of the night. It is the kind of book where providing an outline of the story is pointless-

You just need to read it for yourself- Tarantino meets "Fiddler on the Roof." Enough said.

The Slaughterman's Daughter was originally written in Hebrew and has been translated by Orr Scharf. It was a read that required commitment (in the way all great epics do) that was well worth the payoff of the tale.

It is set in the Pale of Settlement after the Crimean War. Yaniv mentions he gained great insights from staff at Tel Aviv University relating to Jewish History and I really enjoyed how he immersed us in this world. It was humourous, heartbreaking and immaculately written. My favourite characters were Fanny and Novak!

If I take anything from this read it is that it has enlightened me of a culture and time different from my own.

The Slaughtermans Daughter- Yaniv Iczkovits
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Historical fiction as well as translated fiction. An epic tale of Fanny, a slaughtermans daughter who kills with her butchers knife as acts of vengeance.
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Set in the Russian Empire in 19th Century and allowed me an insight into Jewish life at this time. A story I knew nothing about and after just finishing a Russian classic, the echoes were present in this tome of a book.
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There are touches of humour throughout the narrative which breaks up the story and you become swept away in the characters. Fanny is made of stern stuff and is a feisty female, a great protagonist against some of the other quirky characters introduced.
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As a huge historical fiction fan I loved this story and as it has just won the 2021 Wingate Prize others clearly love it too.
A book that requires some commitment but one that will reward you with its brilliance.
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Thank you @maclehosepress and @netgalley for this copy to read and review. The Slaughtermans Daughter is published today and I definitely need a physical copy for my shelves.
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"If you have not realised that extending your hand one night and only grasping thin air will break your heart, then you have never lived."

Historical fiction set in 1894 in Eastern Europe: it's exciting, funny, and a very well-told story. It's a reasonably long book, but so worth it!

I loved the depth of the characters and that the narration jumped between them.

Overall, an epic story that I would recommend.

Sorry my fog filled brain made me download it again.
Here's the original review
I fell in love with the amazing cover and I found the story fascinating and well written.
It's a great historical fiction that keeps you hooked even if it is sometimes a bit too slow.
The richness of details, the amazing and well researched background, the well thought cast of characters are the elements that made me like this story.
It reminded me of other stories I read set in the East European Jewish community and I appreciated the vivid descriptions and the excellent style of writing.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The townsfolk of Motal, a small town in the Pale of Settlement where nothing extraordinary ever happens, are shocked when Fanny Keismann—devoted wife, mother of five and celebrated cheese farmer—leaves her home at two hours past midnight and vanishes into the night. True, the husbands of Motal have been vanishing for years, but a wife and mother? Whoever heard of such a thing. What on earth possessed her? Could it have anything to do with Fanny's missing brother-in-law, who left her sister almost a year ago and ran away to Minsk, abandoning his family to destitution and despair?

This book is beautifully written, it evokes a time and culture that is hauntingly touching with moments of humour and moments of tragedy. The book is a slow burner, it contains a lot of pages and is dense but piece by piece I chipped away at it and I'm glad I did as it is a lovely read.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I liked this book however it was very hard to read. As another language coming into a English language.

As a massive fan of folklore and legend, I was very excited for this book. However, it is very difficult to get into to, and quite confusing, although whether that's due to the author or the translator I couldn't say.

I really wanted to like this book but I found it really hard to get into. "The Slaughterman's Daughter" by Yaniv Iczkovits had my interest at about 20% of the way through my read when he explained how his daughter had developed an interest in his work and perfected her knife skills. I'm sorry to say that the rest of the book wasn't interesting and I found it hard to follow.

Loved the idea of this novel, as I usually enjoy folktales and Eastern European settings but I just couldn't get into this. A large, varied cast of characters made it really tricky to decipher what was going on early in the novel, and I couldn't finish it....the first time since childhood! Sorry, others may love it but it wasn't for me.

The Slaughterman's Daughter is a sprawling tale, dashed with humour, lavishly told with rich detail about every character that wanders into the path of what you start out thinking are the main protagonists, but who almost end up as side characters as the book goes on, as they reappear occasionally to remind us of the plot.

The book is set in the Pale of Settlement in Imperial Russia and focuses on the lives of Jews living within the Pale. Mende Keissman's husband, Zvi-Meir has left her and their children, and has disappeared to Minsk. Mende becomes obsessed with reading adverts in the paper, placed by wives and families seeking errant husbands and family members. One day she is shocked to see that her own sister, Fanny Keissman has been reported missing in this way and she cannot imagine why Fanny has apparently abandoned her family.

The book is subtitled The Avenging of Mende Speismann by the Hand of her Sister Fanny. Mende and Fanny are the eponymous Slaughterman's Daughter, though the book is primarily driven by Fanny's actions, who believing she is helping her sister, sets off to find Zvi-Meir and convince him to sign a gett (a Jewish divorce) so that her sister can move on with her life.

Fanny sets off, having somehow acquired the help of local mute and former Russian soldier Zizek Breshov in her quest and before long they have run into trouble which attracts the attentions of the Okhrana, or Special Police and particularly Colonel Novak. Fanny's skills as a kosher slaughterman, (having been taught by her father, once the rabbi confirms, nothing expressly forbids a woman from taking on the role) are also put to good use.

This is the very basic bare bones of the plot. At points, you will wonder what happened to the plot, as almost every character who wanders in, is given entire chapters devoted to their back story which seem almost entirely devoid of relevance to the story.

However, if you stick with it, and it's easy to see when reading it that many people wouldn't, each character introduces a new thread into the story which does end up neatly woven into the rich tapestry that Iczkovits has created.

The book was originally written in Yiddish and has been translated into English. Some terms remain in the original Yiddish and for people unfamiliar (like me) you may need to refer to your friendly internet search engine to work out who's who and why.

Historically, I think most of us have an inkling that things have not always been great for Jewish people across Europe, but at the time this book is set, the map of Europe looked very different and Jews were barely tolerated in Russia. Some of the non-Jewish characters reflect the attitudes towards the Jews at the time and it felt pretty shocking to see that so baldly laid out. I knew a little of this time and place, but it was fascinating and heartbreaking to read more about the historical treatment of the Jews in Russia.

Eventually the book comes full circle, having picked up a band of stragglers and misfits along the way, Fanny ends up back at home, not entirely welcome and facing some pretty serious accusations.

Overall, while wondering why the hell have I just spend 200 pages reading about the back story of some Colonel who barely seems to figure in the plot, I really did enjoy this book, and felt that the point was to indulge in some seemingly irrelevant storytelling (none of which is actually irrelevant by the end). Enjoy the journey and try not to get murdered by over zealous Czarist forces. Remember there is no place like home.