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Loading... The Ladies Auxiliary (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (1999)by Tova Mirvis
  
jewish themed novels (17) No current Talk conversations about this book.   sweeton6 | Aug 24, 2023 |  When Batsheva, a young, attractive Jewish convert and widow moves into the neighborhood with her little daughter, Ayala, tongues start wagging. Because she is blonde, confident and passionate, many of the women find fault with the way she dresses, keeps house, raises her daughter, etc. Batsheva doesn't acknowledge the community's "hierarchy" and before long she becomes the scapegoat for the town's problems. I would have enjoyed The Ladies Auxiliary more if it weren't for the endless explanations of Jewish laws, customs and holidays. Novel is oversimplified; more storylines would have added much-needed dimension and texture. (  ) Bookish59 | Mar 9, 2015 | ) LudieGrace | Dec 4, 2013 | I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved seeing how the author wove the fabric of an Orthodox Jewish community with the American South. It was a bit slow at times, and it was frustrating to watch the community fall apart due to its own assumptions and insecurities. Still, it was a solid novel with smooth prose and a dishy plot. I'd definitely recommend it to those readers who enjoy things like The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but might be looking for a more religious twist! I give it four stars. (  ) MeganAngela | May 14, 2012 | ) MrsBond | Sep 19, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
Batsheva is free-spirited and artistic, and at first the women of the ladies auxiliary discover in her a passion for the traditions and rituals of Judaism which have become stale and routine to them. But when Batsheva becomes close with the restless high-school girls she teaches who are eager to catch glimpses of the non-Kosher world outside, and befriends, maybe a little too intimately, the beloved Rabbi's only son, Yosef, feathers begin to ruffle. When events come to a head, and Batshevea's past is revealed, the women's allegiances begin to split over whether Batsheva should be forced out of the community.Batsheva is an unforgettable character, one who makes her claims on the reader's heart from the first page. The Ladies Auxiliary, beautifully and skillfully told, shows what happens when the outside world leans on a closed community so intent on keeping its children inside its tight walls that it cannot see it is losing them. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.82)
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