Jephte's Daughter: A Novel

by Naomi Ragen

Overview

The pampered daughter of a wealthy Hasidic businessman, Batsheva Ha-Levi grows up in the affluent suburbs of Los Angeles. But everything changes when she turns eighteen and finds that her loving father has made a secret vow which will shatter her life, forcing her to marry a man she hardly knows and sending her to the exotic, golden city of Jerusalem. On her wedding day, she enters a strange and foreign world steeped in tradition and surrounded by myth. Shackled by ancient rules, she soon understands that to survive she will have no choice but to fight for her freedom, to reconcile her own need to live in the modern world with her ancestral obligations, and to choose between the three men who vie for her body, her soul, and her love.

Now a classic listed among the one hundred most important Jewish books of all time*, Jephte's Daughter is bestselling author Naomi Ragen's beloved first novel. With poignancy and insight, it takes readers on a groundbreaking and unforgettable journey inside the hidden world of women in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

*100 Essential Books For Jewish Readers, Rabbi Daniel B. Sync and Lindy Frenkel Kanter

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312570231
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/16/2010
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Naomi Ragen is the author of novels including The Tenth Song, The Sacrifice of Tamar, Sotah, The Covenant, and The Saturday Wife. Her books are international bestsellers, and her weekly email columns on life in the Middle East are read by thousands of subscribers worldwide. Ragen attended Brooklyn College and earned her master's in English from Hebrew University. An American, she has lived in Jerusalem since 1971. She was recently voted one of the three most popular authors in Israel.

Editorial Reviews

An emotionally potent book.” —Kirkus

“Eloquent writing and vivid characters.” —Publishers Weekly

“Ragen weaves the religious issues throughout the plot so that they become part of the suspense, giving this skilfully rendered page-turner... real substance.” —Jewish Week

“First rate.” —Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See and Past Perfect

“Terrific!” —Jacqueline Briskin, author of The Naked Heart

From the Publisher

Ragen's second novel (after Jephte's Daughter ) revisits the insular world of ultrareligious Jews, focusing on the Reich family's three daughters and how they fare in the elemental rite of passage--marriage. In the Haredi community (made up of Jews who observe ``the tiniest dictate of law'' and have ``boundless contempt'' for all things secular), a matchmaker handles--and sometimes mishandles--nuptials based on dowry, piety and family ties, and only incidentally on love or compatibility. Harsh as these customs may seem, Ragen's detailed and thoughtful evocations of daily life in such an enclave offer insights into its members' beliefs. The drama centers on the Reichs' devout middle daughter, Dina, who tries to reconcile her desires and dreams within the confines of her narrow world. How she becomes a sotah (a woman suspected of adultery), her banishment from see ing her husband and young child, and the ultimate reconciliation of her strict faith with the meaningful aspects of a secular society form the heart of this very readable, but at times simplistic novel. Ragen is most successful when she tells the story from the vantage point of the haredi world, less so when her characters are secular Jews. A stronger work of fiction than Jephte's Daughter , the narrative holds the reader's attention throughout. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The world of Orthodox Judaism is lovingly portrayed in this first novel describing the conflicts of Batsheva Ha-Levi. Trapped in an arranged marriage to Isaac, a cruel, hypocritical zealot, Batsheva flees the Hasidic community of Jerusalem for the sophisticated world of London. Yet despite the myriad temptations in her new life, she refuses to compromise her faith, even for a new love. Ragen presents the cloistered Hasidic community in all its contradictory aspects: the rigidity of its piety; the serenity of its religiosity; the fanaticism of some adherents; and the wisdom of its great leaders. With its exotic ambience and attractive heroine, this is sure to be popular. Andrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, Kan.

Library Journal