Yes & No

by Linda Tatelbaum

Paris 1969, one year after the French student uprising. In her search for what is behind history, graduate student Naomi Weiss stumbles upon a manuscript dated 1137. Her attempt to decipher the manuscript leads her to a garden where she finds the answer not in books but in vegetables.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tina]

This is an unusual book which demands that the reader pay attention closely to follow the threads as events, thoughts, imaginings, dreams, and memories weave in and out in a complex dance of literary historical possibilities. The plot is sufficiently engaging to tease the reader along, a beckoning finger that turns the corner before we can catch up.
I enjoyed reading it enough to be disappointed in the ending, but only because it had the mark of realism. Instead of providing a neatly wrapped happy conclusion, we are left to imagine our own possibilities within a historical context that is a lifetime ago and today.

[Katherine Simmons]

Maybe I’m dumb, but I really struggled to follow this book, especially in the beginning.