(originally posted on January 7, 2009)
How could I not adore this? It's a debut novel set in Boro Park and features a mature woman who owns an undergarment shop that caters to those of all ages and ethnicities, but really shines an inward light upon her secret shame and empty marriage when a young Israeli girl, brimming with life, arrives to turn everything upside down. The conflicts are meted out in fine detail, and Sima - the aforementioned propreitor - is all too believable in what she holds back, how she feels and what she does, no matter how wrong-headed those actions might be. This book is a rare little bird that should have a chance to spread its wings widely and at great distance.
