The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova
Mirvis
This
is a fascinating novel that I've read three times which means I must
either really like it a lot or else I have a very bad memory. I'd like
to think it's for the first reason! This gripping story takes us to the
tightly knit and insular Orthodox Jewish community of Memphis,
Tennessee. Batsheva Jacobs, a recent widow, has decided to move to this
area where her late husband grew up, to raise her five year-old
daughter. She is quite different from any of the members
of her new community and practices her own, somewhat relaxed, version
of Orthodox Judaism much to the horror of her new neighbors. While
these women find everything about her appalling, their teenage daughters
feel quite differently. With the new sense of freedom that she
introduces to them and a break from "the rules", they no longer want to
live as they've been previously taught. What follows has everyone
looking at old and new beliefs in a different way while looking at
themselves a little bit harder as well.
