Intriguing novels about amazingly strong Jewish women
Discover captivating novels featuring strong Jewish women who defy odds and inspire. Explore our curated list of amazing books celebrating resilience, courage, and intrigue in Jewish literature.
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The Fruit of Her Hands
by Michelle Cameron
Based on the life of the author’s thirteenth-century ancestor, Meir ben Baruch of Rothenberg, a renowed Jewish scholar of medieval Europe, this is the richly dramatic fictional story of Rabbi Meir’s wife, Shira, a devout but rebellious woman who preserves her religious traditions as she and her family witness the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Raised by her widowed rabbi father and a Christian nursemaid in Normandy, Shira is a free-spirited, inquisitive girl whose love of learning shocks the community. When Shira’s father is arrested by the local baron intent on enforcing the Catholic Church’s strictures against heresy, Shira fights for his release and encounters two men who will influence her life profoundly—an inspiring Catholic priest and Meir ben Baruch, a brilliant scholar. In Meir, Shira finds her soulmate. Married to Meir in Paris, Shira blossoms as a wife and mother, savoring the intellectual and social challenges that come with being the wife of a prominent scholar. After witnessing the burning of every copy of the Talmud in Paris, Shira and her family seek refuge in Germany. Yet even there they experience bloody pogroms and intensifying anti-Semitism. With no safe place for Jews in Europe, they set out for Israel only to see Meir captured and imprisoned by Rudolph I of Hapsburg. As Shira weathers heartbreak and works to find a middle ground between two warring religions, she shows her children and grandchildren how to embrace the joys of life, both secular and religious. Vividly bringing to life a period rarely covered in historical fiction, this multi-generational novel will appeal to readers who enjoy Maggie Anton’s Rashi’s Daughters, Brenda Rickman Vantrease’s The Illuminator, and Geraldine Brooks’s People of the Book.
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Sarah
by Marek Halter
Sarah’s story begins in the cradle of civilization: the Sumerian city-state of Ur, a land of desert heat, towering gardens, and immense wealth. The daughter of a powerful lord, Sarah balks at the marriage her father has planned for her. On her wedding day, she impulsively flees to the vast, empty marshes outside the city walls, where she meets a young man named Abram, son of a tribe of outsiders. Drawn to this exotic stranger, Sarah spends one night with him and reluctantly returns to her father’s house. But on her return, she secretly drinks a poisonous potion that will make her barren and thus unfit for marriage. Many years later, Abram returns to Ur and discovers that the lost, rebellious girl from the marsh has been transformed into a splendid woman—the high priestess of the goddess Ishtar. But Sarah gives up her exalted life to join Abram’s tribe and follow the one true God, an invisible deity who speaks only to Abram. It is then that her journey truly begins. From the great ziggurat of Ishtar to the fertile valleys of Canaan to the bedchamber of the mighty Pharaoh himself, Sarah’s story reveals an ancient world full of beauty, intrigue, and miracles.
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Sotah
by Naomi Ragen
While living in Jerusalem, a young and striking woman is accused of adultery and banished from the country, and must find a way to reclaim her life in America.
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The Garden of Ruth
by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
The author deftly interweaves history and fiction to create a compelling exploration of a prominent biblical figure. Told through the voices of both Osnath, niece of the prophet Samuel, and Ruth, the work transports readers into an ancient world to offer a dramatic and thought-provoking perspective on a well-known tale.
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Seven Days to the Sea
by Rebecca Kohn
In the best-selling tradition of "The Red Tent" comes an epic retelling of the "Exodus," narrated by Miryam, the sister of Moses, and by his lover, Tzipporah. These two women weave an intricate and unforgettable tale of love, envy and selflessness, all of it revolving around one exceptional man. But could Moses have become the inspirational leader he was without these extraordinary women at his side? Rebecca Kohn takes one of the best-loved stories from the Bible and brings it startlingly to life, from Moses' humble beginnings as the baby in the rushes to his parting of the Red Sea and establishment of the Ten Commandments. Miryam and Tzipporah tell a story of sisterhood, rivalry and devotion - of great passion and unbearable sadness in the face of the ultimate sacrifice. This is a novel to make you laugh and cry, to uplift and entrance you from first page to last.
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The Song of Hannah
by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
Once childhood friends, Hannah and Pninah become rivals for the man who has married them both. Despite their differences, the women must learn to live together while sharing the love of their husband, and that of Hannah's son Samuel, the future prophet.
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Sarah
by Orson Scott Card
Fictionally explores the life of Sarah, daughter of a king, wife of a prophet, faithful follower of the God of Abraham, recipient of a miracle, and mother of nations.
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Rachel & Leah
by Orson Scott Card
This third book of Card's Women of Genesis series traces the intertwined lives of four women celebrated in the Bible: Leah, oldest daughter of Laban; Leah's beautiful sister Rachel; Bilhah, an orphan taken in by Laban; and Zilpah, a servant born into Laban's tribe. Original.