The Books of Jacob

Tokarczuk (Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead) elicits understanding, if not sympathy, for the 18th-century professed messiah and convicted heretic Jacob Frank as his story is told through the eyes of his Sabbatean Jew followers and skeptics and persecutors both Jewish and Christian, as well as the all-seeing gaze of his grandmother, Yente. Yente’s perspective spans all eras of this epic novel, guiding listeners through a complex web of characters, many of whom have multiple names or adopt new ones when Frank preaches conversion. Unable to assign unique voices to all, Gilli Messer adjusts dialogue according to age and background, but her energetic pace thwarts casual listening. Supporting narrator Allen Lewis Rickman reads a single character’s epistolary chapters with welcome distinction and authenticity, suggesting that a full-cast recording like the 2020 Polish-language audiobook would have helped keep listeners oriented. Nevertheless, Messer’s bright voice captures much of the author’s and translator’s use of humor to ground major events in the mundanities of lives affected, especially women’s.