I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

I Am Forbidden

Anouk Markovits

The age old question of the desire for personal freedom versus family values is heartbreakingly told in this novel about a Hasidic Jewish family. Their search for the ideal place to practise their ultra orthodox faith takes them from wartime Eastern Europe to 21st century USA. Can the family survive the one final secret which could shatter their lives? A beautifully written novel.

Extract
Atara day-dreamed of preparing for the baccalaureat with her classmates at the lycee, but then her family would be erased from the register of good Hasidic families, her siblings condemned to bad marriages, to no marriage at all .... Was it a selfish heart that dreamt of living her own life?
Parallels
  • Secret by Phillipe Grimbert
  • The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer