The Book of Faith

If a certain foursome of stiletto-wearing, Cosmopolitan-drinking Manhattanites were 15 years older, Jewish, residing in late 1990s Montreal, and down one member, they would very much resemble the characters in Kalman Naves's frothy debut novel. Erica Molnar is the literary one, a novelist and columnist for the Montreal Gazette, recently separated from her husband and recovering from a bout of thyroid cancer. Faith Rabinovitch is the serious one, a developmental psychologist and their shul president. Rhoda Kaplansky is the chief gossip and matchmaker and a speech-language pathologist for children. These three women lend strength to one another and their synagogue community as they navigate their romantic, professional, and family lives, and most importantly, when tragedy strikes. The focus on female friendship is the great strength of the story, but the novel is overlong, and Kalman Naves (who, like Erica, was a literary columnist for the Gazette), strays too often from the narrative to add color to secondary characters. The book will appeal to those who see themselves in the detailed portraits of Montreal life, but the average reader may get lost in the minutiae of shul council meetings. (Sept.)