Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Joanne Sundell
Five Star, Jan 2006, $26.95, 302 pp.
ISBN: 1594144117

Nine year old Zoe-Esther Zundelevich and her papa Yitzhak leave Russia for the United States. Several years later in 1867 Zoe-Esther graduates from medical school in Philadelphia, but her beloved dad suffers from tuberculosis, so she takes him to the Colorado Territory where she hopes the mountain air will help his lungs, leaving behind fellow student Daniel Stein who wants to marry her.

In Golden City, she finds prejudice against female doctors and Jews, and an attraction to casino owner Jake Whiskey. Still she helps the neglected poor with their medical needs, while Jake finds himself attracted to his "Queenie" as he calls her. As she falls in love with a non-Jew, she knows that her happiness will devastate her beloved papa, and besides he is not Yaakov as predicted by Schadchen as her mate's name just before she left Russia. Besides he feels unworthy of her, and Daniel is in town.

This is an interesting western romance that stars a delightful heroine, perhaps a bit too perfect, and a rogue who considers reforming for her. The storyline provides a deep look at the late nineteenth century Russian Jewish heritage as a key element to the relationships between Zoe-Esther and the three men in her life. Fans will appreciate this fine historical tale that brings vividly alive Reconstruction Era Colorado through the efforts of a caring doctor.