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  • The Book of Separation

  • A Memoir
  • By: Tova Mirvis
  • Narrated by: Tova Mirvis
  • Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (6 ratings)

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The Book of Separation

By: Tova Mirvis
Narrated by: Tova Mirvis
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Summary

The memoir of a woman who leaves her faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world.

Born and raised in a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish family, Tova Mirvis committed herself to observing the rules and rituals prescribed by this way of life. After all, to observe was to be accepted and to be accepted was to be loved. She married a man from within the fold and quickly began a family.

But over the years, her doubts became noisier than her faith, and at age 40 she could no longer breathe in what had become a suffocating existence. Even though it would mean the loss of her friends, her community, and, possibly, even her family, Tova decides to leave her husband and her faith. After years of trying to silence the voice inside her that said she did not agree, did not fit in, did not believe, she strikes out on her own to discover what she does believe and who she really is. This will mean forging a new way of life not just for herself, but for her children, who are struggling with what the divorce and her new status as "not Orthodox" means for them.

This is a memoir about what it means to decide to heed your inner compass at long last. To free the part of yourself that has been suppressed, even if it means walking away from the only life you've ever known. Honest and courageous, Tova takes us through her first year outside her marriage and community as she learns to silence her fears and seek adventure on her own path to happiness.

©2017 Tova Mirvis (P)2017 Audible, Inc.
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Sadly not as good as her fiction

I have enjoyed previous works by Mirvis but this title isn't anywhere near as enjoyable.

Leaving Orthodoxy is a fascinating subject, and Shulem Deens excellent 'All Who Go Do Not Return' is a masterpiece of the genre.

This however feels very long, skimpy on details regarding Modern Orthodoxy, and often quite dull. Her thoughts and feelings become repetitive, and I felt some more judicious editing would have helped.

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