Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club presents “The Matchmaker’s Gift” with Lynda Cohen Loigman

Named a Best Book of Fall by Parade • BuzzFeed • New York Post • GMA.com • People

“Loigman’s latest is a gem. A scrappy Jewish teenager newly arrived in 1920s New York struggles to follow her calling as a matchmaker––seventy years later, her cynical divorce-attorney granddaughter realizes she has very inconveniently inherited the family gift for matching soulmates. Both funny and moving, The Matchmaker’s Gift made me smile from start to finish.”
––Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code

Is finding true love a calling or a curse?

Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.

Two generations later, Sara’s granddaughter, Abby, is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney, representing the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals recording the details of Sara’s matches. But among the faded volumes, Abby finds more questions than answers. Why did Abby’s grandmother leave this library to her and what did she hope Abby would discover within its pages? Why does the work Abby once found so compelling suddenly feel inconsequential and flawed? Is Abby willing to sacrifice the career she’s worked so hard for in order to keep her grandmother’s mysterious promise to a stranger? And is there really such a thing as love at first sight?

About the author:

Lynda Cohen Loigman is the author of The Wartime Sisters and The Two-Family House. She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She grew up in Longmeadow, MA, and now lives in Chappaqua, NY.

Praise for The Matchmaker’s Gift:

“Insightful, charming and packed with historical New York details, The Matchmaker’s Gift is a tribute to the bonds of family and taking a chance on true love.” ––Shelf Awareness

“Loigman has a gift herself: the ability to evoke places and scenes with the subtlest of details. She takes us all over town in time and space: a crowded French bakery on the Upper East Side and narrow streets lined with sweltering tenements; the audience gathering at dusk for the Shakespeare Festival in Central Park and a Tribeca party sparkling with celebrities and high fashion.” ––BookTrib

“The plot employs some mag­i­cal real­ism [and] sim­mers with vibrant detail…Loigman’s research exudes authen­tic­i­ty, invok­ing the sights and smells of a bygone Low­er East Side. The his­tor­i­cal chap­ters are com­pelling; the more con­tem­po­rary ones are equal­ly so. A fas­ci­nat­ing nar­ra­tive.” ––Jewish Book Council

“As we follow these parallel storylines, Sara and Abby follow their destinies with an abundance of character and charm. Plus, the dual timelines are rife with fun historical details.” ––BuzzFeed

“Loigman’s thorough exploration of turn-of-the century, Jewish immigrant culture and her smooth transitions into the 1990s give the reader a full and satisfying picture of Manhattan across the twentieth century. The details are painstaking but never tedious, and the relationships are exciting, sincere, and beautiful.” ––Booklist