Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

April 7, 2021

Cynthia Ozick’s New Novel Explores the Jewish Opposition to Idolatry Through (Very) Non-Jewish Eyes

At ninety-two, the author remains at the height of her powers.

Cynthia Ozick, one of those rare figures who has talent both as a literary critic and a creator of literary fiction, has recently published her 24th book, Antiquities, at the age of ninety-two. Set in the Temple Academy, a tony Westchester boarding school that has been transformed into a retirement home for its aging trustees, the novel has as its narrator one of those alumni/trustees—the pedigreed and WASPy Lloyd Petrie. To Dara Horn, the book shows Ozick “at the height of her powers.”

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