A Kiss From the Past

As part of BookishlyJewish I’ve received some amazing invitations to hang out with Jewish writers and illustrators. Participating in these discussions is always eye opening, as topics come up that are uniquely Jewish. This can be as wide ranging as how to disguise a sheyd’s chicken feet followed immediately by a spiritual polemic on romance novels’ third act grovels not properly representing Jewish ideas surrounding repentance. One such issue that is always raised is the feeling of “not being Jewish enough” to write Jewish characters. This is a sort of imposter syndrome about telling one’s own personal experience for fear that others will reject it because it does not match their own. It seems this fear is universal, running from the orthodox to the unaffiliated, the romance writers to the literary short story scribes. Well my friends, I have the perfect identity affirming book for you. Bonus points – it’s a romance, so you know you’re getting a happily ever after.

Written by Kelly Cain, A Kiss From the Past, follows Nichelle, a professor and devoted sorority sister, as she discovers she is adopted. Although she has never quite felt like she fits in, Nichelle has a loving relationship with her parents who cannot understand why she insists on searching for her birth family. This leads to a rift between them as she refuses to give up. Joining her on the search is Clarke, a gem and rock specialist who is helping Nichelle decode her only clue- a ring left to her by her grandmother.

Among other twists and turns, including an epic road trip that pits free spirited Nichelle against rigid, super-scheduled Clarke in some hilarious antics, Nichelle finds out from a home genetic test that she is part Jewish. She is unsure how to reconcile this with her view of herself as a black woman. A view that has already been shaken by the discovery that she is adopted. This leads to one of the most profound discussions I have ever seen in a romance novel. 

Clarke, who also has a complicated ancestry, tells Nichelle that he has always known he has ancestors that were slaves as well as ancestors that were likely slave owners or at least idle participants in that system. However, he relies on his lived experience to define himself in that moment. Nichelle takes a similar journey, exploring her Jewish roots on her mothers side as well as meeting her extended black family on her fathers side in a huge meet and greet arranged by her newfound sisters. Not all her relatives are ready at first, but Nichelle manages to navigate the situation with grace.

Watching Nichelle and Clark fall for each other through this entire saga was almost secondary to the other action. The reader is left with with a certainty that this couple is going to make it, because if a relationship can survive all of these identity shaking revelations intact, that is surely a sign of a couple that will go the distance for each other. 

I would suggest writers take the messages in A Kiss From the Past to heart. Clarke and Nichelle’s wisdom can help dispel our own insecurities about intersectionality and Judaism not being a monolith. If that doesn’t work for you, then have a gander at the afterword in which Cain discusses her own journey that served as inspiration for the book. You will be glued to the page. There’s room for us all in this tent, and Nichelle and Clarke are holding the doors open for you.

Find It: GoodReads | Bookshop | Amazon

Note: BookishlyJewish received an e-arc of this book from the author. There were no strings attached. We asked and she said yes.

---

E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.