Jephte's Daughter (1994)

A modern classic of Jewish-American literature， a remarkable journey into the shrouded world of Chassidic women. Naomi Ragen's first novel has been called "one of the 100 most important" Jewish books. Abraham Ha-Levi is a wealthy American businessman and the last male survivor of an important Orthodox Jewish family. He decides it's time he finally honoured his religious and cultural inheritance and so forces his 18-year old daughter - the beautiful and intelligent Batsheva - into an arranged marriage. Her new husband is a devout Torah scholar who lives in Jerusalem. Batsheva finds herself plunged into a new life and a strange land， among people who follow their religious laws to the letter. Then she realises that her husband's piety is merely a mask for his cruelty. A magnificent book that builds up momentum compellingly