The Weight of Ink

Before Ester Velasquez comes to London, a number of factors make it possible for her to develop intellectual interests and a willful independence. In what ways is her life typical of a woman’s life during the 17th century? In what ways is her life different? How does her situation speak to some of the novel’s key themes and ideas about gender?

How are love and desire depicted in the novel in terms of characterization and through the novel’s key themes? Are love and desire reconciled with intellectualism by the novel’s end? Why or why not?

Throughout the novel, characters often lie to other individuals, even when they care deeply for them. For example, Ester lies repeatedly to Rabbi Mendes, and Helen sometimes withholds information from Aaron during their research. What circumstances lead to characters needing to sometimes lie and conceal information? What does the novel suggest about the morality of withholding information, and why it might be—or might not be—acceptable?

How does the backstory of Helen’s relationship with Dror impact the narrative? How does it contribute to the development of her character? What does this plotline reveal about the various social, cultural, and religious factors at play in the novel?

The novel’s plot combines fictional events and fictional characters with historical events (the plague of 1665; the Great Fire of 1666) and historical figures (Spinoza; Shakespeare). What is the significance of this combination, and how does it advance the novel’s key themes? What does the novel suggest about the nature of history, storytelling, and the lines between fact and fiction more generally?

Religion plays a significant role in the lives of many of the characters, both past and present. How are religion and religious identity depicted in the novel? How do the characters’ experiences with religion converge or diverge from one another’s?

Analyze the significance of writing and research in the novel. What are the continuities between the past and present storylines in terms of writing and knowledge, and in what ways, if any, do the characters in the different timelines experience these elements differently? What do you think is the significance of the novel’s title, The Weight of Ink?

Many characters in the novel live with deep regrets about choices they made or did not make in their past. How is regret depicted in the novel? How do various character experience regret, and how do they cope with it or become consumed by it?