Disobedience

From the author of The Power, winner of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2017.  Naomi Alderman's Disobedience is an insightful and witty novel on the search for love, tolerance and faith.

"Disobedience reaches beyond expose status. A loving anger feeds its critique of the UK's orthodox Jewish society, and its split narrative - which points to a culture clash as absurd as a lunch date between Moses and Sandra Bernhard - edges towards acceptance, hope and a middle ground."  -  Vogue (UK)

By the age of 32, Ronit has left London and transformed her life. She has become a cigarette-smoking, wise-cracking, New York career woman, who is in love with a married man. But when Ronit's father dies she is called back into the very different world of her childhood, a world she thought she had left far behind. The orthodox Jewish suburb of Hendon, north London is outraged by Ronit and her provocative ways. But Ronit is shocked too by the confrontation with her past. And when she meets up with her childhood girlfriend Esti, she is forced to think again about what she has left behind.

"It shows the complexity of relationships, the societal pressure to conform, and the inner conflicts we face. It is a book of friendship and love, of community and acceptance, of faith. Alderman gently exposes the traditions of the Orthodox community and weaves prayers, blessings, and Torah passages throughout the story... Disobedience is a tender novel, beautifully written."  -  Aimee Boyer, Off The Shelf

An insightful take on the search for love, tolerance and faith in a tightly-knit Jewish community in London, Disobedience follows the story of Ronit, who is returning to the capital on the occasion of the funeral of her estranged father.