SOURCE: "The Faiths of Her Childhood." in The New York Times Book Review, March 31, 1985, pp. 12-13.

In the following review, Cowan offers a favorable assessment of Davita's Harp, which he describes as "Mr. Potok's bravest book, though it is not his best."

Chaim Potok is a writer who defies easy categorization. Though he does not have the instinct for the fast-paced plots and sleek characters that usually make novels popular and though he has not attracted the intellectual following of a Saul Bellow, still, four of his five novels and his one nonfiction book have been best sellers. By exploring the themes that fascinate him, Mr. Potok has opened a new clearing in the forest of American literature.

Davita's Harp is Mr. Potok's bravest book, though it is not his best. It will almost certainly be one of his most popular. Set in New York during the 1930's...