I love the world and tensions that Chaim Potok draws me into. This story continues with the world of the previous book My Name is Asher Lev, twenty years later. Asher Lev is married and has a daughter and a son, is living in exile from the Brooklyn Ladover community in the south of France. He's experiencing artistic tension after some harsh criticism at his last show. When his beloved uncle dies, he and his wife and children return to Brooklyn for the mourning.

That is the stage set for The Gift of... On it plays out similar themes to the prior book, plus artistic integrity, the difficult choices of a husband and father and son and disgraced member of community. Potok creates a world so real that I wanted to visit the Ladover in Brooklyn, and especially to see Lev's paintings and drawings and am disappointed that I cannot.

The two novels (and I am now convinced that they both must be read; do not stop with the first) draw the reader deeply into questions of community and tradition, creativity and identity.

A small note. After completing the first novel, I really wanted to dive more deeply into art appreciation (the first novel in particular teases the reader through an art history with just enough touchpoints so as to be tantalizing). After completing the second, I purchased family membership in my city's art museum so that we can go visit and learn.