The Ladies Auxiliary

This remarkable and assured debut tells the story of the close-knit, carefully structured world of the Orthodox community in Memphis, Tennessee, a world that unravels when Batsheva, newly widowed and a convert to Judaism, and her five-year-old daughter move in.

The Orthodox families of Memphis, Tennessee, are as proud of their century-old southern roots as they are of their Jewish heritage. Into this fiercely protective community comes a convert to Judaism: Batsheva, young, beautiful, recently widowed, and accompanied by her five-year-old daughter, Ayala.

Batsheva's unconfined joy in the rituals of her adopted religion seems odd and even slightly threatening to the ladies of the Auxiliary, who pride themselves on their modesty, domesticity, and the strictness of their observance. And when Batsheva becomes close with the Auxilliary's restless teenage daughters, who are eager to catch glimpses of the non-Kosher world outside, feathers begin to ruffle. Batsheva's past is revealed, and the community is forced to re-examine its beliefs about motherhood, faith, friendship, and the nature of love.