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Tevye's Daughters is the book that was made into the blockbuster play and movie, "Fiddler on the Roof." This movie brought us such famous and universally recognizable songs as "If I were a Rich Man," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make me a Match," "Tradition" and "Sunrise, Sunset." Trvye the dairyman is one of the most delightful and amusing characters in all of fiction, and this chronicle of Tevye and his daughters is, beyond question, the great Jewish humorist's masterpiece. Tevye was baffled by his daughters. That he had seven daughters and no sons-well, that was God's will, and Tevye loved them all dearly. And the girls-ah, their world revolved around papa and they gave him all their devotion. But as they grew up, they saw that the world was big and changing, that there were other ideas and other people. What made it so difficult for Tevye was not that they were such fine and lovely girls - dark-eyed Beilke, laughing Sprintze, brave Hodel - but that they had minds and wills of their own. Tevye couldn't quite understand that - it wasn't supposed to be that way. His gay heart was heavy at times, and the girls mixed tears with their laughter. When you have read this book, you will know why many Jews refer to Sholom Aleichem not as "the great Jewish humorist," but rather as one of "the greatest writers of our time." There are short stories in this book too: "If I Were Rothschild," "The Littlest of Kings," and a dozen others that display Sholom Aleichem's wonderful storytelling gift at its best.… (more)
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Aleichem, who of course knew his subject matter intimately, makes vivid the daily existence of Tevye and his townspeople, the slow erosion of their way of life and the slowly increasing hardships they endure, brought about by steadly more restricitive and punitive laws handed down by czarist officials desperate to retain power.
Aleichem uses the daughters, and especially the marriages they make, to illustrate the ways in which the passing of time has changed the family's experiences. When Tevye, distraught over his youngest daughter Bielke's choice for a husband, tells her (and for the rest, now, I will paraphrase, for I do not have the book in front of me), "Hodel (her much older sister) wouldn't do what you're doing," Bielke replies sharply, "Don't compare me with Hodel. Hodel married in Hodel's time, and I am marrying in my time." To provide more detail would create spoilers. To truly savor this book, a reader must experience each event along with the characters. You already know enough of the basic story if you've seen the play, although the differences in plot detail are considerable.
The joy is all bittersweet, here, and the tragedy, for Tevye personally and for his people, is ever-present and ever-increasing. And yet the book, as with all wonderfully written literature, is uplifting nevertheless.