The Sacrifice of Tamar by Naomi Ragen.

Tamar Finegold is a happy young bride in one of Brooklyn’s insulated ultra-Orthodox enclaves. As the wife of a rising young Rabbi and Talmud scholar, her status is assured. But this staid, predictable life crashes violently when Tamar is raped by an intruder as she baby-sits for her baby nephew. Humiliated and confused, she refuses to risk the unbearable stigma of discovery. But in her attempt to hide her shame, she is sent plummeting into a moral crisis when she discovers she is pregnant and cannot be sure who the father is. Faced with impossible choices, she turns to her two best friends. Together, the three relive their childhood, exploring their past struggles to reconcile their faith with the haphazard tragedies that befall all human beings. In the end, heartbreaking sacrifices and impossible decisions lead to a surprising triumph of the human spirit.

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
8½"x5½"
ISBN: 1-902881-52-4