Disobedience by Naomi Alderman
I enjoyed Naomi Alderman's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction-winning feminist dystopian novel The Power, and I recently read her 2006 debut 'Disobedience,' which won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and the Orange Award for New Writers. It tells the story of Ronit Krushka, who grew up in a strict Orthodox Jewish community in Hendon, north London, and now works as a financial analyst in New York after abandoning her faith and family. She is scheduled to attend a memorial service for her estranged father, a respected rabbi, and it appears that Ronit's cousin, Dovid, will succeed him. When she returns to London, however, she learns that Dovid has married Esti, her childhood best friend and former lover.
Inevitably, the portrayal of Orthodox Judaism and the relationship between Ronit and Esti in 'Disobedience' sparked some debate. While the setting is very specific, the more general observations about what happens when one person decides to conform to widely held community values and another person does not are thoroughly and thoughtfully explored as the complex consequences of those decisions are played out are thoroughly and thoughtfully explored. I also found it refreshing that Dovid is equally fleshed out in this scenario, rather than being relegated to a much smaller third wheel alongside the drama of Ronit and Esti reconnecting and confronting their past.
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Each chapter is told in the third person from Esti's point of view, followed by Ronit's in the first person. My copy of the book came with an interview with Alderman, in which she stated that she intentionally writes chapters with cliffhanger endings, similar to television episodes. This certainly helps propel the novel forward, as it can feel like a stretched out short story at times, but it also allows for more character nuance.
This is a fantastic first novel with a vividly drawn setting. I'm looking forward to reading Alderman's second novel, 'The Lessons,' about a group of Oxford University students, and I'm also interested in seeing how the film adaptation of 'Disobedience,' starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, compares to the book.
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