"Mazaltob" is a fascinating portrait of a young
Moroccan Sephardi woman as she navigates
the ever-shifting ground between tradition
and modernity, East and West, self and
other, obligation and desire. Stylistically bold,
culturally rich, by turns comic and wrenching,
this polyphonic novel is both historically
important and, in its new translation, a gift for
our current times.

English-language readers will rejoice at this translation of Blanche Bendahan’s coming-of-age story, set in northern Morocco at the turn of the century and following the dreams and travails of a Jewish young woman who chafes at the constraints that society places upon her. This marvelous annotated translation restores to us the forgotten words of an award-winning Jewish woman writer—and introduces us to a young, female Jewish protagonist whose sexual, spiritual, and desires are evocative and timely. With artful, informed introductory words by Yaelle Azagury and Frances Malino, Mazeltob is a crucial compliment and counterpoint to Albert Memmi’s Pillar of Salt: it is what students of French, North African, and Jewish culture have been thirsting for.

Bendahan’s masterpiece, a stunning exploration of Jewishness, feminism, and modernity in Morocco, deserves to be read far and wide. Malino’s excellent biographical introduction and Azagury’s fascinating literary analysis beautifully frame their translation. A delight and a triumph!

A beautiful, poetic novel, Mazaltob offers rich description of the lives of Jewish women in early 20th century Tetouan, while also reflecting upon the early 20th century French intellectual milieu of its author, Blanche Bendahan. The fluid translation makes the work of this important but long-overlooked Sephardic writer a pleasure to read in English.