Jephte's Daughter by Naomi Ragen.

A modern classic of Jewish-American literature, a remarkable journey into the shrouded world of Chassidic women. Naomi Ragen’s first novel has been called “one of the 100 most important” Jewish books.

Abraham Ha-Levi is a wealthy American businessman and the last male survivor of an important Orthodox Jewish family. He decides it’s time he finally honored his religious and cultural inheritance and so forces his 18-year old daughter—the beautiful and intelligent Batsheva—into an arranged marriage. Her new husband is a devout Torah scholar who lives in Jerusalem. Batsheva finds herself plunged into a new life and a strange land, among people who follow their religious laws to the letter. Then she realizes that her husband’s piety is merely a mask for his cruelty. A magnificent book that builds up momentum compellingly.

NAOMI RAGEN is the author of four international best-sellers: Jephte’s Daughter, Sotah, The Sacrifice of Tamar, and The Ghost of Hannah Mendes. Born in New York, she attended Brooklyn College and received an MA in English from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For the last thirty years, she has made her home in Jerusalem. The translation of her books into Hebrew in 1995 has made her one of Israel’s best-loved authors. An outspoken advocate for gender equality and human rights, she is a columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Ragen's first play, Women’s Quorum, was commissioned by Habima, Israel’s National Theater.

Paperback
445 pp
8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
ISBN: 1-902881-50-8