Hello!
I am so glad I stopped by when I did, because I had not heard of Yallfest. But now I do - thank you, Megan Chamberlain! - and, if my master's studies allow, I'll be in Charleston too!
Ella Enchanted was one of my favorite books growing up - it always competed for first place favorite with Peter Pan. Whichever one I had read most recently was usually the winner. :) Thank you for filling my childhood with laughter.
Hope to see you at Yallfest!
Becca
# 3057 -
Rebecca Herman
10/19/2026 -
15:12 -
City: Lynchburg -
State: VA -
Country: United States
Hi, Long-time Reader!
Thank you for the close read of THE UNUSUALS!
Lummie is a nickname for Lumbard, a common Anglo-Jewish name at the time.
About the cheese, I'm sure you're right about kosher law. About how the law played out in medieval England, I'm less certain because I don't know how Jews would have been able to obtain kosher cheese, though maybe they could have. Until 1275, they weren't allowed to farm, and most were pushed to be moneylenders. If the Jewish population had been bigger, I think Christian farmers would have found it profitable to produce some kosher cheese, but the market would have been tiny. Jews observed kosher law as much as they could, but in some respects they couldn't. Does this make sense to you?
Thanks for writing!
Gail
Hi, Megan Chamberlain!
I definitely read these, and I can hardly wait to meet you at Yallfest! When we meet, please remind me that you wrote to me here.
Gail
Hello Gail Carson Levine,
I don't know if you actually read these, but I found out you are going to be in Charleston for Yallfest and I immediately booked a trip. The Two Princesses of Bamarre was one of my favorite books as a child. It was also the first book that showed me that you can do everything right...and the ending can still be a different outcome. It wasn't a true Happily Ever After. When I was 15 my best friend got leukemia. She went into remission. Got a bone marrow transplant. And died anyway at 17. I reread The Two Princesses of Bamarre over and over for years, to remind me that the endings don't always turn out like you want, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's been 20 years. I'm now 38 but I still have that beat up childhood copy and I can't wait to show you all the love that book has endured. Thank you for your stories.
# 3054 -
Megan Chamberlain
10/11/2026 -
03:18 -
City: Martinez -
State: GA -
Country: United States
Hi, long-time reader who just finished The Unusuals.
As always, I was extremely impressed by your accuracy and attention to historical details. (One of my favorite bits in ACMoE was the accurate application of get laws.) However, there was one scene in this new book that didn't seem quite right-- the bit where Cheria buys cheese from a no-Jewish vendor. Aside from the fact that Jews in that time generally tried to avoid buying dairy products from non-Jews (who would sometimes switch out the cows' milk for pigs' milk or some other non kosher substitute), they also specifically wouldn't have purchased Christian cheeses, which were made with animal rennet (prohibited by the kosher laws that ban the mixing of milk and meat).
I was also curious where the name Lummie comes from-- is it short for something?
# 3053 -
LJF
10/11/2026 -
02:45 -
City: -
State: -
Country: United States
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I am so glad I stopped by when I did, because I had not heard of Yallfest. But now I do - thank you, Megan Chamberlain! - and, if my master's studies allow, I'll be in Charleston too!
Ella Enchanted was one of my favorite books growing up - it always competed for first place favorite with Peter Pan. Whichever one I had read most recently was usually the winner. :) Thank you for filling my childhood with laughter.
Hope to see you at Yallfest!
Becca
Thank you for the close read of THE UNUSUALS!
Lummie is a nickname for Lumbard, a common Anglo-Jewish name at the time.
About the cheese, I'm sure you're right about kosher law. About how the law played out in medieval England, I'm less certain because I don't know how Jews would have been able to obtain kosher cheese, though maybe they could have. Until 1275, they weren't allowed to farm, and most were pushed to be moneylenders. If the Jewish population had been bigger, I think Christian farmers would have found it profitable to produce some kosher cheese, but the market would have been tiny. Jews observed kosher law as much as they could, but in some respects they couldn't. Does this make sense to you?
Thanks for writing!
Gail
I definitely read these, and I can hardly wait to meet you at Yallfest! When we meet, please remind me that you wrote to me here.
Gail
I don't know if you actually read these, but I found out you are going to be in Charleston for Yallfest and I immediately booked a trip. The Two Princesses of Bamarre was one of my favorite books as a child. It was also the first book that showed me that you can do everything right...and the ending can still be a different outcome. It wasn't a true Happily Ever After. When I was 15 my best friend got leukemia. She went into remission. Got a bone marrow transplant. And died anyway at 17. I reread The Two Princesses of Bamarre over and over for years, to remind me that the endings don't always turn out like you want, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's been 20 years. I'm now 38 but I still have that beat up childhood copy and I can't wait to show you all the love that book has endured. Thank you for your stories.
As always, I was extremely impressed by your accuracy and attention to historical details. (One of my favorite bits in ACMoE was the accurate application of get laws.) However, there was one scene in this new book that didn't seem quite right-- the bit where Cheria buys cheese from a no-Jewish vendor. Aside from the fact that Jews in that time generally tried to avoid buying dairy products from non-Jews (who would sometimes switch out the cows' milk for pigs' milk or some other non kosher substitute), they also specifically wouldn't have purchased Christian cheeses, which were made with animal rennet (prohibited by the kosher laws that ban the mixing of milk and meat).
I was also curious where the name Lummie comes from-- is it short for something?