The Rabbi's Daughter

August 27, 2007
In her misspent youth, Mann, a journalist and daughter of a prominent London rabbi and granddaughter of a chief rabbi of Israel, was hooked on drugs and promiscuous sex, which led to hepatitis B infection and an arrest for drug possession. In her 20s, she went to Jerusalem, where again she disappointed her progressive Orthodox parents by marrying a born-again American Jew who had become an obsessive and separatist Hasid. Unhappiness and tragedy were Mann's constant companions: a retarded sister; the abortion of a brain-damaged fetus; the unraveling of her passionless marriage and her disenchantment with Hasidism; breast cancer; and her elderly widowed mother's suicide. Mann parades unsavory aspects of her behavior: she and her boyfriend, Sam, knowingly have raucous sex in earshot of her anxious children, and after Sam's brother is killed in a terrorist attack, Mann is upset that Sam isn't paying enough attention to her at the burial. While Mann's clever, fast-paced memoir offers an intimate glimpse of Orthodox Judaism and aptly demonstrates the human yearning for redemption, some of the events she recounts strain credulity, particularly her deflowering in her father's synagogue and a lesbian affair in an ultra-Orthodox women's yeshiva that is overheard by a religiously zealous tattletale.

September 15, 2007
Reva Mann is the granddaughter of a prominent rabbi in Israel and the daughter of a London rabbi. Her memoir tells a familiar storydysfunctional family, youthful rebellion, eventual self-awarenessbut the context is unusual and gives the account special resonance. After spending her teenage years indulging in drugs and promiscuous sex, bringing shame to her family (part of the plan), Mann contracted hepatitis B and realized that she was putting herself in danger. Substituting one form of extreme behavior for another, she moved to Jerusalem, enrolled in an ultra-orthodox womens yeshiva, and entered into an arranged marriage. Not surprisingly, the highly regulated environment turns out to be stifling, prompting still more rebellion. Only after divorce, her parents deaths, and a bout with breast cancer does Mann seem to come out of her spiraling self-destructive cycle. Despite the litany of trauma she recounts, Manntells her story with genuine humor and self-deprecating wit, winning the sympathy of even disapproving readers. Graphic descriptions of drug use and sexual activity aside, this is a memoir about a woman finding a way to maintain her faith and enjoy life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)