This study examines novelist Esther David’s restorative fictional creations, The Book of Esther (2000) and The Book of Rachel (2001), through partial historical recovery (2006). David, a renowned writer from India’s Bene Israel Jewish community, utilizes fiction to redefine Indian Jews’ link to a past that is Jewish, Indian, and global, as well as ancient, current, and forward-looking. In reconstructing a historical past that must be fragmented due to the lack of an authentic archive, David also uses that past to create a fictional Jewish-Indian identity that does not fit neatly with the life stories of Jewish communities around the world, particularly the larger narrative of oppression and haven in the Promised Land.
Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02759527.2013.11932927
