Disobedience

Author: Naomi Alderman

Quote: And when we are creating, any fleeting pain becomes not only irrelevant, but actually joyful.

Why you should read this book: This is a close, almost voyeuristic examination of a community of Orthodox Jews in England, and secrets that hide in plain sight, made lush with religious insight and multiple viewpoints. Ronit, the rabbi's bisexual daughter, left home for a secular New York life long ago, but when her father dies, she feels compelled to return to England and find her mother's Shabbat candlesticks; instead she finds her cousin married to her former lover and remnants of a confusing past she thought she had left behind. Ronit, her cousin, Dovid, and his wife, Esti, must all face their own desires and the community's expectation, making their own decisions in the face of mass disapproval.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Apparently, the frank discussion of hypocrisy was upsetting to some Orthodox Jews, presumably the very people who most ought to read and understand this book.