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Editorial Review:
In a cramped synagogue in north-west London, the eminent elderly rabbi passes away. On the other side of the Atlantic, his estranged daughter, Ronit, hears of her father's death and returns to London for the funeral. She has not returned home in fifteen years. Ronit looks forward to a week or two of revisiting old friends, perhaps settling old scores. But she finds the community she grew up in a more confusing place than she'd anticipated. Particularly when she is unexpectedly reunited with Esti, her childhood sweetheart, who has taken a very different path in life..."Disobedience" is a hugely enjoyable and warm-hearted portrayal of characters caught between two worlds, and a wise exploration of sexuality, tolerance and faith.Disobedience is Naomi Alderman's richly told, endearingly evocative tale of two women and the choices they make as they come to terms with their identities in a traditional Orthodox Jewish community. In this groundbreaking debut, Alderman puts her characters to work, forcing them to confront issues of rebellion, isolation, loneliness and self-acceptance in a place where deviating from the norm often results in cold stares and hushed whispers at the kosher butcher shop.
Ronit Krushka is a lapsed Orthodox Jew, who fled the confines of Hendon, England, and her traditional upbringing for a secular lifestyle on Manhattan's Upper West Side. When her father, the community's revered Rabbi passes away, Ronit returns home to retrieve her mother's precious Shabbat candlesticks, and to revisit her troubled past. She reconnects with Esti, a former lover, whose choices have left her unsure and unfulfilled. As Ronit and Esti navigate through the demons of their past, each woman is forced to decide what kind of life she wants to lead, and with whom she wants to share it.
Alderman alternates between a lyrical and familiar style, introducing each chapter with a page of religious commentary that relates directly to the novel. While the commentary is interesting, readers may find themselves skimming it as the plot thickens and these introductions become more like diversions from the story's main message. Still, interruptions aside, Disobedience marks an important debut, and one that extends outside the lives of these characters to personify the struggle between conformity and individualism for everyone who has felt like an outsider. --Gisele Toueg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
read this book:
This was a book that deserves to be read and reread. The protagonist is a complicated woman who has been on a spiritual journey across years and continents. I learned a lot about the Orthodox Jewish community in London.
Great:
I don't usually read novels like this (I'm not sure what genre to assign it) but I loved it. Interesting:
I enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. It discusses lesbianism and Orthodox judaism. How can one be true to oneself and to ones faith? Is it possible to do both? How can we live with our choices? What about parents with different beliefs? How can an Orthodox father relate to a non-Orthodox lesbian child?more info Disobediance:
Although the writing is old fashioned by current American standards, I could not put this book down. I was driven to read it to the end, and then felt a loss when it was over. The ending perhaps is a little syrupy, and they lived happily ever after, each one making a compromise. It doesn't feel totally real, but it did touch me quite deeply. Similar Products:
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