The James Naughtie’s Bookclub invites Naomi Alderman to talk about her book, titled ”Disobedience”. It was published in 2006 and it made its author one of the best young novelists that everyone watched and read.
source: http://www.naomialderman.com/about/
The book relates the story of a young woman, one of the habitants of a Jewish community in
North London. The author focuses on the description of tensions experienced by Renette, who after
leaving the community is living in New York, embroiled In an extramarital affair. She comes back to London for her father’s funeral, where she meets Este, a Rabbi’s wife, which is attracted to her.
The journalist finds “Disobedience” a funny and sharp novel, that describing Jewish traditions and faith, presents an ambiguity of the principal characters. It’s a complex book in terms of the religious aspects showed by the author in a very technical way. In order to expose the Jewish tradition, the novelist starts each chapter with a short commentary of religious texts.
Naomi Alderman was herself in a similar situation as the main character of her book – she
grew up in the London’s Jewish community from where she got away to United States. After
publishing the novel, she came back which caused a mixed reaction. For the majority of Jewish
people, “Disobedience” reveals something that shouldn’t be revealed, the orthodox traditional
rituals. The novelist admits that, writing this book, she had a feeling inside herself that she shouldn’t
be doing it and that she should be quiet about it.
If you want to listen to the conversation with Naomi Alderman at James Naughtie's Bookclub, follow the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bc
