Naomi Ragen’s An Observant Wife continues the story of widower Yaakov and new convert Leah. The novel begins with their wedding. Leah quickly restores order and joy to Yaakov’s chaotic household. Leah loves her husband and ready-made family. Unfortunately, she soon becomes the focus of viscous gossip from her Boro Park neighbors. The prominent grandmother of Yaakov’s children tries to help the family and becomes the buffer between Leah and her community foes. Yet nothing compares to Leah’s seventeen-year-old stepdaughter’s struggle. Shaindele blames herself for her mother’s tragic death. This misplaced guilt leads her to extremely risky behavior. Expulsion from school is threatened unless Shaindele accepts counseling from the school’s approved male therapist. Help is the opposite of what Shaindele receives from this man. Yaakov and Leah fight to protect Shaindele but are stunned to discover the shocking realities of their insular community. Ragen provides her reader with a thought-provoking and discussion worthy view of the orthodox world.

This was an enjoyable story and I learned much about the ultra orthodoxJewish community. Rich in detail I learned about the culture, the leadership and the rules. In this book, we follow the marriage of Leah and Yaakov and the difficulties they face. Very well done.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An Observant Wife is the sequel to An Unorthodox Match. While it can be read as a stand alone book, I have read An Unorthodox Match and I highly recommend reading it as well. The novel continues the story of recently married Leah and Yaakov who live in an ultra Orthodox community in Brooklyn. While they have totally different backgrounds, their deep love for each other is mutual . However, Leah soon finds life in this insular community is not what she expected. A family crises has unimaginable results.

In this beautifully told story, every word has a deep and powerful meaning. Readers are given a front row look into a community that holds itself apart from the outside. Insight is given into its hierarchies, rules and laws. Values and beliefs are examined and questioned. The characters are well defined and believable. Their voices bring life to the narrative.

This is a complex and multi layered story that moves quickly. Engrossing and meaningful, the novel is well worth reading. Highly recommended.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I happened to be very lucky to have read the first book, An Unorthodox Match. It was a breakthrough book because it was a ruthless look at a very closed society of this religious following.

In An Observant Wife, we are given the same clear eyed look and it is treated as it should be. Naomi Ragen takes us through what a challenge it can be.

Leah and Yaakov have married and she's finding life in the Haredi community both joyous and difficult. This is a sequel and it helps, I think, tremendously to have read the first book because although Yaakov's back story, the tragic death of his first wife, is well explained, Leah's journey is not and she's the one who struggles more with the transition. This is not only their story, it's also that of Shaindele who, at 17, finds herself exploring boundaries and then faced with inappropriate harassing behavior from an authority figure. And it's also the story of Yaakov's mother in law who finds herself protecting Leah and exploring a future with a widower. There are very poignant moments - especially with young Chasya- and some thoughtful ones. My quibble is that there are so many words about certain things and not enough about others. No one goes to services, Leah doesn't seem to make Shabbos dinner, and while Leah works from home on a computer, we are never told what that work is. And things wrap up quickly. Know (I didn't as I read this on kindle) that there's a glossary at the back. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read for those who want to know what happened to Leah and Yaakov.

2.5 rounded up to 3.0. This is the sequel to An Unorthodox Match. While I enjoyed An Unorthodox Match and many other books written by Naomi Ragen I found the beginning of An Observant Wife very slow. It definitely picks up, but not until half way through. Ragen does an excellent job depicting the cheating, lying and mafia type leaders, Rabbi’s, in the Haredi world of religious Jews.

****SPOILER ALERT**** BELOW****

Sorry for the spoiler but there is something I must say. It was appalling to me that many of the teachers and Rabbis of the orthodox community continued to protect and recommended a male physiatrist who was abusive to girls, but the real problem was the solution they came up with, the solution was to make sure this particular man, psychiatrist, never saw young girls again but could see and counsel young boys. REALLY? I really believe this should be changed before the book is officially published. My rating would have been higher if this was not the case.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An Observant Wife, the sequel to An Unorthodox Match, continues the story of Leah and Yaakov as they get married and face a slew of issues: some from adjusting to newly married life; some from the judgmental Orthodox Jewish community around them; some from cultural differences resulting from the different lifestyles each grew up in; some from problems they face with their teenage daughter, Shaindel; some from their livelihoods; and more. The novel lets us see how they deal with these various concerns, often with the gentle support from their advocates Bubbee Fruma Esther, Rav Aryeh, Rav Alter, the Blausteins. and Rabbi Weintraub.

The characters are well-developed and the conflicts Leah and Yaakov face are realistically presented. How each conflict is resolved constitutes the backbone of this novel. A fast and engrossing read!

Note: It is recommended that you read An Unorthodox Match before this sequel. It provides the background needed to better appreciate this novel.

An Observant Wife is an excellent sequel to An Unorthodox Match (published in 2019). It’s a deep dive into Jewish culture (especially Orthodox Judaism), along with romance, grief, abuse of minors, hypocrisy, community pressure and a slew of other issues. This book follows the main characters from the first book, Leah and Yaakov, starting with their wedding. The author did not sugarcoat the attitudes of so many Orthodox Jews as it relates to outsiders or people who have converted to Judaism or, to those who, although born Jewish, are trying to become more observant - which is the case with the main female character, Leah. To many of the Orthodox Jews of Boro Park, Brooklyn, New York (where I grew up as a secular Jew, before it became so ultra-religious), nothing they do will be good enough. But luckily, not everyone feels that way, as Ragen makes clear. Leah and her husband Yaakov face a lot of struggles in this book, from Yaakov having to leave his life of full-time “learning” (Talmud study) to make a living as an accountant, to Yaakov’s oldest daughter, Shaindele, who is still reeling from her mother’s untimely death and is chafing under the community’s rules. One thing that I did not care for - Ragen ends so many chapters with warnings of doom, that it cast a bit of a pall over the story. Statements like “…neither dreaming about the far-reaching and unimaginable consequences of this decision” could have been left out and just let the action proceed, with better effect, in my opinion.

I loved the character of Fruma Esther, who is Yaakov’s children’s grandmother, his dead first wife’s mother. She lent the book a feeling of warmth, humanity and unbounded love, reinforced by her strong Jewish faith.

There is so much Jewish content here that I truly don’t know how someone outside Judaism will feel about it, but from reviews of An Unorthodox Match, it seems that it will work for non-Jews as well as secular Jews. Many Yiddish and Hebrew words and phrases pepper the text. Generally, you can figure out the meaning from the context if the author doesn’t translate it directly, but note that there’s a helpful glossary at the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

When Leah entered Yaakov’s world it was only as a babysitter to help out with the children. After becoming a crucial part of all of their lives the handsome Orthodox widower began to fall in love. Yaakov began to imagine what it would be like to have Leah’s calmness and joy in their lives every day. Leah, only recently studying traditional Judaism visualized a future with certainty, love and faith, something she could not resist. After their marriage daily life is more tricky than Leah thought it would be. The community, still very hesitant of this newcomer holds back and although she falls more in love with Jacob and the children every day, she struggles with loneliness and the hostility displayed by neighbors and fellow congregants. When Jacob’s teenage daughter battles her own silent demons, Shaindele finds herself in an abusive situation. Leah yearns to be closer to the young woman who is so obviously in pain and Jacob does everything in his power to protect his family. After being taunted and threatened they finally realize that faith cannot be derived from anyplace except your very own heart. As a sequel to the wonderful novel An Unorthodox Match, author Naomi Ragen does a good job completing the circle of life in this very strict, complicated religious community. For me, the first book was more enjoyable and moved a lot faster but both are good.

Thanks to the Publisher and Net Gallery for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
One of the most wonderful aspects of reading for me is having the opportunity to experience the lives of others- to walk in their shoes and think about how different or more often similar our lives are. I loved this book, and getting to learn more about the people of the Jewish orthodox faith.
I loved Leah and her wonderful husband Yacoub and their sweet children. Disillusioned with the secular material World, Leah falls in love with a young widower. She marries him and devotes herself to orthodox Judaism. I was surprised to learn that one of the most respected position for the men is “ scholars” and their wives must do all of the cooking cleaning, child care AND bring in an income. Leah love her husband and new family and despite her devotion she is viewed as an outsider and not welcomed into the community in any way shape or form- Its Jewish Mean girls.
When her step daughter makes a huge error in judgement which leads to a even worse situation when Leah challenges the authority of the men in charge and makes a shocking accusations . It ‘s interesting to see how this was handled within the family and the community. The way they were treated by the community was shocking but In the end people are people both good and bad regardless of their faith. I especially loved the Jewish grandmothers and their involvement in the family and subtle power within the community. This is drama with capital “D” and I loved every minute of it.

I first want to thank the author for writing a sequel to An .Unorthodox Match, so that we could continue to follow Leah and Yaakov’s story. Once again I was immersed in the characters, and in their community. I loved watching the love deepen between the couple, and in this book their love was sorely tested. There is scandal, there are problems and struggles, and they had to rely on their devotion to each other and their families, as well as their faith, to get them through.

I really enjoyed this honest, complicated, fascinating examination of orthodox Jewish living in Borough Park thorough the eyes of a returning Jew (bat teshuva) in this newest Naomi Ragen novel "An Observant Wife", the sequel to "An Unorthodox Match". The marriage of Leah and Yaakov, along with its instant family is full of complications, community judgements, and parenting/marital challenges. I loved the conclusion of the story, making their own perfect path within these stringent choices. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the e-reader advance copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Try as she might Leah cannot overcome being an outsider in the observant community she has chosen. The small minded judgemental community constantly contradicts its base by throwing jabs and roadblocks into this family's path. One predictable fiasco after another moves the plot to keep the reader engaged. Questioning the piety of "respected" leaders is just one of the themes that runs through this sequel. Leah leads her family to question just what observant means. Is it a community judgement or a personal one? The beauty of this book are the lessons in resolution and moving forward instead of being stuck in old world values in a contemporary society while still being observant.

This book is a sequel to An Orthodox Match, in which Ragen introduces the characters of Leah (formerly Lola) and her love story with Yaakov. At the end of the 1st (and then standalone) book, the reader feels that all is right in their world, that they have overcome substantial obstacles to be together, and that they will live happily ever after. What follows, in An Observant Wife, is what life looks like the next morning, and the week after that. The fairy tale is over and life continues.
While I found many strong points in the book, it's not my favorite by this author (The Saturday Wife is). Sometimes the writing and the story telling needed more restraint. With respect to Ragan's well-known criticism of orthodox communities' insular customs and attitudes, as an outsider, I felt it was uncomfortable and largely true. This aspect of Ragan's books stirs the most controversy. As a reader, though, and a librarian, I would rather focus more closely on the quality of storytelling and writing of her works. Overall, a decent book but not a great one.

This is the story of a woman who marries a Jewish man with a family, and tries her best to do the right thing. Adapting to a new religion and assimilating into a new family is very difficult but she believes in love.

Although I had read the first book and wanted to know what next happened I couldn't get into this book. Finally after setting it aside for awhile at 3% in I decided I should just review what I had read so far. Written okay, wanted to get into it, but couldn't. Not my cup of tea. Thanks for the opportunity.

Naomi Ragen's books always teach me something about the Jewish faith. This book certainly did. That said, the beginning of An Observant Wife was slow. There was too much introspection for my taste. However, I really enjoyed the second half. All of the characters were well developed. The plot was a slow build to an exciting finale, and I adored the ending. I learned many new words and customs. I found myself looking up the recipes for dishes that she described and look forward to making some of them in the future. So brew some mint tea and make some rugelach. You are sure to enjoy reading An Observant Wife.
*This is the sequel to An Unorthodox Match

was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

I think of author Naomi Ragen as a female Chaim Potok. She portrays Orthodox Jewish communities with accuracy and charity, while not turning a blind eye to their shortcomings. “An Observant Wife” -- sequel to her previous novel, “An Unorthodox Match”-- is no exception.

The opening scene is Leah’s wedding to widower, Yaakov Lehman. Their joy is quickly replaced with stress as Yaakov leaves his full-time study of Torah to take a job in an accounting firm, a move seen as settling for second best. A new wife and step-mother to five, Leah faces criticism from the neighbors who are less than welcoming to the adult convert. Teenager Shaindele has made peace with her new step-mother, only to face scrutiny when she secretly keeps company with a Yeshiva dropout. Meanwhile, Fruma Esther starts bringing food to a widowed Rabbi and an elderly romance ensues.

The new family struggles to sort out God-given laws from man-made rules, while busybodies in the community prefer ostracism to facing uncomfortable truths regarding a leader who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. (Trigger warning: predatory behavior)

Brilliantly written with a powerful message, this is a continuation from Naomi Ragen's previous book, "An Unorthodox Match."

A wedding sets the stage in Boro Park, a borough of Brooklyn, between Leah (formerly known as Lola) and Yaakov. His wife Zissele died two years from that time and Leah was now accepted in the ultra Orthodox Jewish community. Yet she knew she would always be known as an outsider. She was instantly the stepmother of five children: two older boys now in college, a 17-year-old teenage daughter, Shaindele, a toddler, Chasya and little Modechal Shalom. It was Leah's happiest day as she loved them all from a job she previously had as their babysitter.

However, soon after becoming a wife and mother, Leah noticed how she felt distant in the community with strict religious rules and laws to follow. She couldn't wear socks and athletic shoes, couldn't attend movies, plays or go ice skating and swimming at Coney Island, She also had rules to follow with her husband. She quickly learned there was no such thing as a private life in the haredi world and "what will the neighbor's think?" It was a harsh lesson when some onlookers one day saw her dancing with the two little ones to loud music.

Yaakov was worried that it may have been too much of a change from her former life in California with a great job and lots of money to buy whatever she wanted. When she moved to NY, she made a radical change with her religious views. Now, however, she questioned her new life. They were living on the edge with bills. Her teenage daughter was sneaking out at night and she didn't have a lot of friends. Could their love be strong enough to keep them together?

The reader instantly feels immersed in this community that is dark and dusty with very few trees - where everyone is making judgements. It's like going to a foreign country with its own language and dress. Yet, it's within New York City. The story weaves in and out of what it's like to walk in their shoes and feel accepted.

The book is highly recommended. While it may be helpful to read her previous book, it could also be enjoyed as a standalone. The best way to understand the story is to have the glossary of Jewish words and phrases found at the end within easy reach.

My thanks to Naomi Ragen, St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book to be released on September 14, 2021.

My head is still reeling after reading for 2 days straight. I am fascinated by the Orthodox Jewish community and An Observant Wife is by far one of the best novel I have ever read on this subject. The characters were well developed, relationships beautifully described and setting was very believable. My only regret is that I was unaware of the first book but this book stands on its own. I highly recommend.