I Am Forbidden I Am Forbidden

I Am Forbidden

A Novel

    • 4.2 • 123 Ratings
    • $10.99
    • $10.99

Publisher Description

A family is torn apart by fierce belief and private longing in this unprecedented journey deep inside the most insular Hasidic sect, the Satmar.

In 1939, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard. He is taken in by a Gentile maid, who raises him as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, whose parents are killed in the wake of Nazi deportations. Josef helps Mila find safety with Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman’s daughter, Atara. The two girls form a fierce bond, but as they mature, Atara feels trapped by the restraints of Jewish fundamentalism, while Mila embraces her faith and her role as a respected young woman in her community. When Josef returns and chooses Mila to be his bride, she eagerly strives to be an ideal wife, but a desperate choice after ten years of childless marriage threatens to separate her from everything—and everyone—she cherishes.

A beautifully crafted, emotionally gripping story of what happens when unwavering love, unyielding law, and centuries of tradition collide, I Am Forbidden announces the arrival of an extraordinarily gifted new voice and opens a startling window on a world long closed to most of us, until now.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2012
May 8
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
320
Pages
PUBLISHER
Random House Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
7.1
MB

Customer Reviews

Nshoasis ,

Provocative view into a culture

Thought provoking, an inner view of the Hassidic community. Sad, but lovely. A lot of heart.

22Beans ,

I Am Forbidden

In a quest to better understand issues of the Middle East, Jews in Israel, I took on reading this novel for insight. Markovits provides a backdrop for understanding religion binds us, yet guides us. I am very happy for the discovery of this book and highly recommend it.

Flanner ,

Gorgeous and poetic

I couldn't stop reading this book. The author's voice is poetic and lyrical and she truly shows what it means to devote yourself to faith so completely that it can ultimately destroy you. I didn't want it to end.

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